In the Blink of an Eye
by lizziestar
Summary: Sequel to 'With Wings Wide Open'. Iggy and Elisabeth have a daughter named Melody. One day as she's coming home from school, she gets kidnapped. Read to find out what happens.
1. Prologue

Iggy could sense that something was wrong with Elisabeth. In the short time they had been married, a year and a half, he had learned that when she thrashed around in bed that something was majorly wrong with her.

He put his arm on her shoulder and whispered, "Elisabeth. You okay?" His voice was filled with worry. He hated knowing she was hurting.

She gasped, "Iggy! Oh, my God! Get Dr. Martinez! Now!" She grabbed his shirt and pulled his face close to hers. "We have a situation!" She was gasping for breaths and suddenly, Iggy knew what was wrong.

"Oh crap! At one in the morning?" he asked, hopping out of bed.

Another thing that had happened in the time since they got married was that Elisabeth had gotten pregnant. Dr. Martinez hadn't known when Elisabeth would be ready to give birth. Given their bird DNA it was hard to say, but it had taken nine months like any normal pregnancy.

"Yes! At one in the morning! This baby is impatient!" she shouted at her husband. Her eyes were wide and she groaned in pain, clutching her stomach, which was pretty round. That groan was all the motivation Iggy needed.

He ran out of the room and ran down the hall to Fang and Gazzy's room at lightning speed. He banged his fist on the door rapidly until he heard Fang coming towards the door.

"It's one in the freaking morning." Fang mumbled, groggily when he opened the door. "You better have a good reason for waking me up." He ran his fingers through his matted hair and yawned.

"We have a little situation." Iggy replied, hoping Fang would get the point. He needed to move as fast as possible.

"Oh my God! You go get Dr. Martinez and take Elisabeth downstairs. I'll get everyone else." Fang said, becoming alert and focused. This was no time to panic or dawdle. Everyone had to be ready to move at a moment's notice, so they had practiced. Fang knew this was no drill and hoped everything would run smoothly.

Iggy nodded, and headed down the stairs two at a time. He had to get to Dr. Martinez fast. Elisabeth was ready to go at any time. Who knew how long this would take? He had to get to her as quickly as possible.

Fang went back to his room and roused the Gasman who went to Elisabeth's room to make sure she was okay until Iggy got there. So far, so good.

Fang then thundered down the stairs, passing Iggy and Dr. Martinez. He was headed to Angel, Ella, and Nudge's room to wake them.

He threw open the door to the basement and found all three girls sitting up in their beds. They looked like they had been awake for hours. They were grinning from ear to ear.

"What're you guys doing up?" he asked, out of breath.

"It's kinda hard to sleep with all this noise." Ella said, stifling a yawn. Well, maybe someone was still a little sleepy.

"Ooh." Nudge squealed with delight. "This is exciting! A baby!" Of course Nudge only saw the positive side of the whole thing.

It was all they had been talking about since everyone had found out Elisabeth was pregnant. They went on and on and on. It was the wedding all over again.

"Yeah, we'll be excited about it later. Right now we need to go find Max." Fang said, trying to get them out of bed.

"Fang, Max is standing in the doorway." Angel said, getting up. She pointed, grinning.

Fang turned around and sure enough, there was Max, standing in the doorway, looking alert and ready to go. She had tied her hair back and was dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She even looked beautiful when she was trying to remain calm under a very stressful situation.

"Iggy just got her into the living room. Gazzy helped him." Max told him.

Fang nodded and everyone hurried upstairs to the living room. It was go time and Dr. Martinez was probably going to need everyone's help.

Once in the living room, they saw Elisabeth lying on the couch in a long nightshirt, Dr. Martinez putting on surgical gloves, Gazzy looking like he was going to puke, and Iggy with a pained expression on his face from where Elisabeth was squeezing his hand so tightly.

"Good, everyone's down here." Dr. Martinez said, now donning a surgical mask. "Okay. Small children out of the room please." she said to Gaz, Nudge, Angel, and Ella.

"Aw, come on Dr. Martinez." Nudge pleaded. "Let us stay. This is really exciting. I wanna see."

Ella nodded her head and begged, "Please Mom. At least let me and Nudge stay. Please." she added, giving her mom Bambi eyes.

But Dr. Martinez just shook her head. "Sorry kiddos. Out."

"But Mom," Ella groaned. "It's not like I haven't seen live birth before. I've watched you help animals give birth plenty of times. I'm only two years younger than Max, Fang, Elisabeth, and Iggy. Come on."

Dr. Martinez continued to shake her head. "It's different." she told her daughter sternly. "I need you and Nudge to keep Angel and Gaz occupied. That's how you can help okay?"

Ella shrieked angrily, grabbed the Gasman and Angel by the arms, and stalked out of the room with Nudge trailing behind her. She made sure to slam the door for emphasis.

When Ella's yelling subsided, Dr. Martinez turned to Max. "Max, go get me a washcloth for Elisabeth's forehead. A wet washcloth if you don't mind."

Max nodded and ran for the bathroom. She returned moments later with a wet washcloth and placed it on Elisabeth's forehead, which was creased and beaded with sweat. She looked like she was dying.

"How are you doing?" she whispered in Elisabeth's ear. She was concerned. She'd have another flock member to take care of and she wanted everything to go perfectly.

"I've fought Flyboys, gotten my shoulder dislocated, and broke my nose so many times I've lost count, but all of that is nothing compared to the pain I'm in right now." Elisabeth said, her face screwed up in pain.

"'Hell hath no pain like child birth.'" Dr. Martinez quoted.

Suddenly Elisabeth screamed and squeezed Iggy's hand tighter. "Dr. Martinez!" she shrieked.

"Oh my God, is it coming now?" Dr. Martinez said, rushing over in front of Elisabeth. "Sweetie, I need you to spread your legs apart. Can you do that for me?" Max noticed the anxiety in her mother's voice. This might be more difficult than anyone anticipated.

Elisabeth nodded and did as she was told. She squeezed Iggy's hand tighter, causing him to gasp in pain.

"Iggy! I hate you!" she yelled out of pain. "This is all your fault!"

Iggy nodded. "I know." he told her calmly. "I know and I'm going to fix it okay? I'll fix it right now." He then turned to Fang. "Fang, fix it! Do something to calm her down!" Iggy shouted, looking like he was in more pain than Elisabeth.

"What am I supposed to do?" Fang asked, panicking. He didn't know what to do. This wasn't exactly his area of expertise. Wasn't this supposed to be Iggy's job? What could he do?

"Elisabeth, breathe deeply for me." Dr. Martinez instructed. She was trying to get Elisabeth's mind of the pain. She didn't have any of the drugs necessary for an almost painless delivery. This was going to hurt like hell.

Again, Elisabeth did as she was told. She trusted Dr. Martinez. Besides, the breathing was distracting her from the pain. It was giving her something to do, giving her something to concentrate on.

"Put on the radio." Iggy said through clenched teeth. "Music will calm her down." He hoped with every fiber of his being that the music would calm her down, otherwise he was going to have a broken hand.

Fang nodded as Elisabeth let out another shriek of pain. He dashed over to the radio and turned it on.

_THEY SAY THAT TEENAGERS SCARE THE LIVING-_

"Fang! That's not helping!" Max screamed over the music. "It's too loud! Change the station and turn down the volume!"

Fang, exasperated, turned down the volume and changed the station. It wasn't his fault. Nudge had been the one listening to the radio earlier. And anyway, it was Iggy's idea to put it on in the first place.

_-Arms wide open under the sunlight-_

"Better?" Fang asked. He wasn't changing it again. He wasn't going to get yelled at for stuff that was out of his control.

Iggy nodded as Elisabeth slackened her grip. "Much." he said, breathing a sigh of relief. It seemed to be working. The music was soothing her.

"I see a head!" Dr. Martinez informed everyone. "Just keeping pushing Elisabeth. Come on you can do it." Everything was looking great. It didn't look like there would be any complications.

_I take a breath, I take her by my side_

_We stand in awe, we've created life_

Suddenly Dr. Martinez pulled out the baby, naked and covered in blood and goo. "It's a girl!" she cried, cutting the umbilical cord. She carried the baby over to the sink in the kitchen as tears streamed down Elisabeth and Iggy's faces.

_With arms wide open, under the sunlight_

_Welcome to this place, I'll show you everything_

_With arms wide open, now everything has changed_

_I'll show you everything_

_I'll show you every-_

Fang shut off the radio as Dr. Martinez turned around, holding the clean baby girl. His niece. He was an uncle. Another change to take in.

"She has wings!" Max exclaimed.

She did. She had small cloudy grey, chicken wings. That had been another thing they weren't sure about. Would the baby have wings? Apparently the answer was 'yes', but would that be true for others?

Elisabeth's smile grew wider. A little girl. She wouldn't admit it, but she had secretly wished for a baby girl.

"Do you want to hold her?" Dr. Martinez asked. She remembered the first time she held Ella. She had been filled with joy knowing that the little person in her arms was a part of her. It was a great feeling.

Elisabeth nodded and stretched her arms out, taking her baby from Dr. Martinez. She cradled her in her arms, counting her fingers and toes and exclaiming at how tiny she was.

"I'll go get the others." Max said, sprinting out of the living room. Would they be excited or what? Nudge wouldn't be able to wait to dress her up. The poor baby.

"She's probably so tiny due to her bird DNA. She's smaller than you all were because her genes were inherited rather than implanted." Dr. Martinez explained. Another question answered.

"What's she look like?" Iggy asked, grinning with amazement. It was times like these when he really wished he had his sight back.

"She has your eyes." Elisabeth whispered. She had his beautiful eyes. Elisabeth had hoped she would. "Her wings are a cloudy grey color. She has dark hair, just like me. Oh Iggy, she's adorable." Tears fell down her face again. She was a mother. "Do you want to hold her?" she asked him.

Iggy nodded and felt the little baby being plopped in his arms. He wished he could see his daughter. He bet she looked just like her mother.

"Hey." he whispered to her. "I'm your Daddy. I'm your Daddy" Tears fell down his cheeks as he said those words. He was a father.

Iggy smiled proudly as Nudge, Ella, Gazzy, Angel, and Max trooped through the living room over to the couch. He listened as they cooed over his new daughter. If only he could see the looks on their faces.

"Congrats Ig." Fang said, thumping Iggy hard on the back. Iggy just couldn't stop smiling.

Angel graciously sent him a mental picture while everyone else was exclaiming over the baby. His little girl was beautiful, just like her mother. He had hoped she would be.

"She's so cute!" Nudge squealed. Max shot her a look and she lowered her voice. "What're you gonna name her?" Nudge continued more quietly.

"I don't know." Elisabeth said thoughtfully. "Any suggestions?"

"I have one." Angel said. "How about Makalya?"

"Nah." Iggy said, shaking his head. "It doesn't suit her."

"How about Sara?" Gazzy asked. He had just been throwing out a random name. He didn't expect them to go for it.

"I don't think that's good enough." Nudge said. "I have one. How about Margarette Lacy Breanna Nicole?"

"Too long." Fang laughed. What was it with Nudge and ridiculously long and fancy names that nobody could spell? Would they ever know?

"It should be something pretty." Max said, studying the baby. "But not too long." she added. She didn't want Nudge to come up with anything else.

"What about Vanessa?" Ella joked. She couldn't think of anything good enough for the little girl.

"Uh, no thanks Ella." Elisabeth said, laughing. No way was she naming her daughter after that horrible girl from her past.

Iggy mumbled, "Belle.", as he played with a lock of his daughter's soft hair.

"What?" Elisabeth asked. She wasn't sure if Iggy had actually said anything, but she also wasn't sure he hadn't.

"Belle. I think it means beautiful in French." That's what his daughter was, just like her mother.

"Yeah, it does." Elisabeth replied. "But it sounds more like a middle name to me. Any suggestions Fang?" The truth was, she didn't want to name her Belle because she didn't want her daughter to grow up vain. She wanted her to be down to earth.

Fang just shrugged. He wasn't good at this kind of stuff. It just wasn't his style. He didn't know what to pick. All of the names, except for Nudge's and Ella's, sounded good to him.

"Oh come on." Elisabeth said. "She's your niece. Besides, everyone else gave a name. It's your turn."

He sighed and said, "I really think you guys should pick out the name. She's your kid." He thought for a second and then replied, "It should be something that you guys like. Something to do with music, I guess." He wasn't going to point out that Max hadn't actually given a name.

"How about Melody?" Elisabeth asked. As soon as she said it, she knew she found the right name. It suited her daughter perfectly.

"Mel for short." Iggy said. "I like it." He still thought Belle was good, but Melody sounded just as good.

Everyone else agreed. Melody was perfect for the little girl.

"Melody Isabelle Smith," Elisabeth whispered to her daughter, "You are going to grow up to do great things."


	2. Birthday Girl

**Hey everyone. Did you like the prologue or what? In case you didn't know, I had put bits of the songs 'Teenagers' by My Chemical Romance and 'With Arms Wide Open' by Creed in there. Just thought you should know that I don't own those songs. Shocking right? I also don't own Maximum Ride or any of the old characters. You probably knew that though. Sort of obvious. Well, just to let you know, most of this story is in Melody's POV. This chapter begins about 14 years after the prologue. Well, here we go.**

My alarm clock mercilessly woke me up. Whoever made the time 5:30 AM must have been inhuman. Same went for the person who made alarm clocks and the person who made high school start so early. They could just burn.

I sleepily rolled over in my bed, hit the snooze button, and tried to recall the wonderful dream I had been having before I was so rudely and cruelly awakened.

I had been flying in my dream. I had beautiful cloudy grey wings and I was soaring over the trees. It was amazing. I felt adrenaline pulsing through my veins. It was a rush. I enjoyed every minute of it.

I had almost nodded off again when someone banged on my door. Rude much? I mean, really. I was trying to get some sleep.

"Melody Isabelle Smith, get up right now!" my father's voice ordered cheerfully. I didn't understand how he could be so cheerful at this ungodly hour.

"Come on sleepy head. It's someone's fourteenth birthday and if you don't get downstairs, you'll be late for school. Everyone's here already." I heard him thunder back down the stairs and forced myself to get up. I had forgotten it was my birthday.

Everyone was here? So that would mean that Uncle Fang, Aunt Max, Aunt Ella, Nudge, Gazzy, Angel, and Total had come early.

_Too early. _I thought, yawning.

I ran my fingers through my tangled hair, yawned, and made my way to the bathroom in my small bedroom. I turned on the sink, splashed water on my face, and looked in the mirror.

Everyone always told me how pretty I was. I looked exactly like my mother, except I had my father's eyes. They were this brilliant icy blue as my mother described them. I just thought I looked pretty ordinary, not like my mother at all.

My mother was gorgeous. She was only thirty two years old, but she looked like she was sixteen. My father said that when they were in high school he had had to beat up a few guys for trying to hit on her.

The only thing I really liked about my appearance was my twelve and a half foot wings. Yes, you heard me right. I did just say wings. They were cloudy grey just like they had been in my dream.

Actually, that hadn't really been a dream at all. It was more of a memory of the previous weekend. It was like that every weekend. My whole family and I would go out camping and as soon as it got dark, we'd fly around until I started to get tired. We'd been doing this as long as I could remember.

Obviously, I'm not the only one in my family who has wings. My parents have them and so do Uncle Fang, Aunt Max, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel.

Total was Angel's talking dog (He can get annoying.) and Aunt Ella was Max's half sister. They were the only ones without them, besides Max and Ella's mom, Dr. Martinez, or 'Auntie Val' as she liked me to call her.

When my parents and their friends were babies, they had been taken from their homes by a place called the School. The School had given them wings and had experimented on them. They got out when my parents were fourteen.

That's actually how my parents met each other. My dad and the others had rescued her from another branch of the School. They later found out that my mom was Fang's sister and found their mother who had happened to be a good scientist up at the School. She died saving all of them. They've been together ever since.

A couple of years before I was born my parents and the rest of their "flock" had saved the world, but they knew that they hadn't destroyed the School. They knew that someday it would come back.

Which is how my Uncle Fang and Aunt Max got together. They had loved each other for a long time, but kept it hidden. At my parents' wedding, they stopped hiding it and they just got married last year.

My family is the best. They are strange, but they are awesome.

Anyway, I quickly got dressed in my favorite outfit; a long sleeved blue shirt, a pair of faded jeans, white tennis shoes, and a white jacket, to hide my wings since no one could know about them, and I headed downstairs.

"There's the birthday girl!" my mom exclaimed, hugging me tightly and kissing the top of my head as soon as I got downstairs. "Fourteen already. Boy, I'm getting old."

"You're still just as beautiful as ever." my dad, who had just come from the kitchen, murmured in her ear.

On that note I got out of my mother's grip and went into the living room to give them some privacy. Who said only teenagers got mushy? They obviously hadn't met my parents.

I plopped down on the couch next to Nudge who gave me another hug.

Pieces of her wild hair went in my mouth and I let go so I could get them out.

"You get more pretty every time I see you." she said when I had stopped spitting hair out of my mouth. "I swear. I'm so jealous."

I didn't know why. Nudge was just as pretty, maybe prettier.

"But, you just saw me two days ago." I reminded her.

She nodded and said, "But still Mel, you look just like Elisabeth."

"Except she's got Iggy's eyes." Twenty three year old Angel said matter-of-factly, smiling at me.

By far, she was my favorite out of the group. She knew me so well, although I think some of that had to do with her mind reading ability. All of us had abilities, but more about that later.

"Yeah, except she can see out of them." Angel's brother Gazzy teased.

Gazzy was short for the Gasman, but I'm not going into detail about the reason why. He had a funky digestive system. I'll leave it at that.

"I heard that!" my dad shouted from the hall.

"Damn that hearing of his." Gazzy muttered under his breath.

Max rolled her eyes and muttered, "Boys."

Then she turned to me and said, "Mel, when I was your age I was saving the world. I can't wait to see what adventures you'll have." Max was the leader of the 'flock'. The reason why was pretty obvious. She was extremely level headed and motherly. Plus, she could kick serious butt. She had taught me and everyone else everything we knew.

"Hopefully, she won't have any." Fang muttered. He was lounging on the couch, his eyes closed. "Hopefully she'll be nice and safe here and not have to worry about being blown up every time she blinks."

That was the problem with my dear uncle Fang; he took everything so seriously. I highly doubted that he had worried that much when he was my age and I also doubted that I'd have an adventure like theirs'. Probably the most exciting thing that would happen in my life was going on a date, not that anyone ever asked me.

My mom said that was because boys mature slower than girls and since I was a bird girl, I matured double the rate of a normal teenager. She said that when I found someone, it'd be for life just like with her and my father and Max and Fang.

Yeah, right. Like some boy would ever like me that way. I was a freak with wings. Don't get me wrong, I loved them, but sometimes I wondered what it would be like to be normal.

_You'll see Mel. _Angel said, reading my thoughts. _You're going to find someone some day. Just give it a little time. You're only fourteen. So what if that was the age that your parents found the love of their lives? You're different than them. You'll find someone sooner or later and he'll love you wings and all._

_Thanks Angel. _I said, not really believing it. What would anyone see in me?

My parents walked into the living room, grinning from ear to ear. Apparently their "discussion" had ended well.

I shuddered as Angel sent me a picture from my mother's memory.

_I could've done well without that one thanks._

Angel just giggled.

My parents plopped down on the floor and shook their heads. They had obviously figured out what Angel had done.

"Well, Mel, you are going to have one great birthday." Ella said, trying to fill the silence. She was always doing that.

"Yup." Gaz said, grinning mischievously. "Me and Ig have something big planned for later." He slapped my dad a high five. No one knew exactly how my dad could do that and never miss. It sort of freaked them out, but I thought it was cool.

When Dad and Gaz had something planned, it was always big and it usually exploded which didn't make my mom or Max too happy.

"This better not be like her first birthday." Max warned. She still felt the need to make sure no one got into any trouble even though they were all on their own scattered across the state of Arizona.

"You mean the one with the cake bomb?" Gazzy asked, trying to look innocent. He may have been twenty-five, but he still had child like qualities.

"That's exactly what she means." my mom said, irritated. Apparently that had been the worst disaster in the history of mankind.

'_Worst' doesn't begin to cover it. _Angel corrected me.

"Lighten up Elisabeth." my dad said, chuckling. "It won't be that big or that messy. Scout's honor." he said, raising his right hand.

Mom and Max rolled their eyes as everyone, including me, burst into uproarious gales of laughter.

My dad was quite the joker. It was just his personality. According to Max, it was how he coped with being blind and with everything else that had happened in their lives.

"Well, I also made a two tiered chocolate cake with chocolate frosting."

My eyes went wide. My dad made the best cakes. He was the single best cook in the world. No one could compare to him. He knew how to make something out of nothing.

"Would've been more, but I didn't have a lot of time yesterday. The restaurant was packed."

After college, my dad had been a cook in some local restaurants, but as soon as he had enough money, he went into business for himself. Let's just say, business was booming.

My mom checked her watch and hopped up. "It's six thirty Mel. We gotta get to school."

My mom was the band teacher at Monroe High School. She was the best one they had ever had.

"See you at four." my dad said, kissing me on the cheek and my mom on the lips.

I saw the Gasman stick out his tongue in disgust and I stifled a laugh.

"Be good!" she called as we headed for the door. "Don't blow anything up!" she warned Gazzy and my dad.

"I won't let them Elisabeth!" Max shouted back at her. She would make sure they stayed out of trouble.

That was good enough for my mom so we headed for the car. It wasn't fancy or anything. Just a midnight blue Dodge Caravan. Big enough for a few of us to pile in comfortably with our wings out.

_Time for another day at school. _I thought, as we backed out of the driveway. _Wonder what excitement awaits me today?_

Did you note the sarcasm? Good, I thought it wasn't clear.

**So, did you guys like that? I hope so. I will try to update soon, but like I said, it depends. Read and review. Tell your friends. Spread the word about the sequel. Later.**


	3. Weird Feeling

**Hi guys. I'm on Spring Break so I found time to write a really good chapter. Yay! *Claps hands enthusiastically* I am so glad you all are liking the story. I see a couple of you are disappointed that Max and Fang have only been married for a year. I have a reason for that. I had to think like Max. She wouldn't want to rush into anything and Fang would respect that. She also wanted to wait to see if Itex was going to do anything anytime soon. When she realized they weren't, she knew it would have to happen sooner or later. So, that's the reason. Fang finally managed to talk her into it. Will they have kids? I don't know, but I will think about it. If I can make it work with the story then the answer is yes. I'll try. Anyway, let me get on with this chapter for you guys. **

"Hey Mel!" someone shouted. It was fourth period gym class and it was pretty noisy. I only heard the voice because of my heightened senses. Sometimes being a mutant had its advantages.

I clenched my teeth, hoping that she wouldn't come over. It was an empty hope though. My friend Felecia Richards bounded at me from across the gym. I was just shooting baskets by myself as usual. Why did Felecia have to bother me?

"Hey Mel." she said, breathlessly. She shook her blonde hair out and grinned. "Didn't you hear me calling you? I must have shouted your name like fifty times."

I stopped shooting baskets and shook my head. "No. Sorry Felecia, I didn't." I lied.

You see, Felecia was my best friend and had been since kindergarten. She was pretty popular. She always tried to get me to come over and hang out with her and her other friends, go to slumber parties, go on vacation with her, go swimming, stuff like that. I always turned her down because she would find out about my wings. She never understood why and would get upset. She would get worried. She also was worried about my eating. I am really skinny, it's natural for a bird kid, but I eat a whole lot. Felecia wondered how I stayed so skinny when I always ate so much and thought that the only explanation was that I was bulimic. She told the school nurse, her parents, and my parents. It was horrible. I got really mad at her and wouldn't talk to her for a long time. I had only started talking to her again last month because we had to work on a project together, but I wasn't ready to be friends again. Unfortunately, Felecia didn't get that and I was too nice to say anything.

"Mel?" Felecia asked. Uh oh. I had spaced out while she was talking to me. "Are you listening to me?"

I blinked rapidly and hurriedly said, "Sorry Felecia. I spaced. What were you saying?"

"I was just asking you what you were doing for your birthday." she said and I noticed an annoyed tone in her voice. I suppose she was mad because I hadn't been listening. Felecia was like that.

"Uh, just dinner with my family. My aunts and uncles came in so we're just going to have a little party." I shot another basket. Coach Allen didn't like it if we just stood around in gym class. The ball sailed into the hoop and bounced back towards me. I picked it up and turned back to Felecia. "Why?"

"It's just you always hang with your family on your birthday." she complained. "In fact, every time I want to do something you always say you're doing something with them."

"Yeah well, I usually am. They come over a lot. They just love visiting me." I defended myself. What was Felecia getting at? What did she want?

A wide grinned spread across her face. I noticed she had a twinkle in her green eyes and I groaned inwardly. When Felecia looked like that she usually had an idea. "I have a great idea." she exclaimed.

"What?" I asked, afraid of the answer. Something told me that this wasn't going to be good. I noticed Coach Allen was coming our way. "Uh Felecia, grab a ball and start shooting." I advised her and nodded in Coach Allen's direction.

"Right." she said, picking up a ball. She took a shot and missed. The ball rolled back to her and she bent over to pick it up. "She leaving?" Felecia asked. I nodded and she stood back up. "Well, my idea is that since tomorrow is Saturday you could have a party with me and some other kids. It'd be so fun." she said, giggling.

I sighed heavily. "Uh, what kind of party?" I asked warily. I hoped it wouldn't be a wild house party, but knowing Felecia it just might be.

"Bowling." she stated simply and I breathed a sigh of relief. Bowling was safe and I'd be able to keep my wings hidden.

"I'll talk to my parents about it." I said. "I'll call you tonight okay?" I didn't know if I wanted to go yet. Sometimes Felecia's ideas got out of hand.

"Okay." she said, still slightly annoyed. "Is it time to go yet?" she asked.

Before I could take a look at my watch, Coach Allen tweeted her shrill whistle. "I guess so." I answered, grabbed my ball, and walked it over to the bin. After I stuck it in, I walked to the locker room, quickly got dressed, and ran to my locker as fast as I could.

Once at my locker, I turned the combination lock, 12 8 45, and opened it. Realizing I didn't have any homework, I slammed my locker shut and walked down the hall to Mom's room.

She was at her desk so I tapped on the open door to get her attention. She looked up and smiled. "Have a good day kiddo?" she asked as I walked to her desk.

I groaned dramatically and she laughed. "That bad?" she teased. "You sound like your father. Always making a mountain out of a molehill."

"It wasn't that bad actually." I admitted. "Got an 'A+' on my algebra test." I held off telling her about Felecia's party. I still wasn't sure I wanted to go.

She looked at me with that concerned mother look, you know the one. "Something up?" she asked.

"How do you do that?" I asked, in mock amazement. She always knew when something was wrong or when I was thinking about asking her something.

She smiled. "I'm a mother. We have radar. It's like an ability." She chuckled and said, "It's also something I picked up from Dr. Martinez." she admitted.

I took a deep breath. "Well, Felecia wanted to know if I could come to a bowling party tomorrow." I found myself silently hoping that she would say that I couldn't go.

"Is this one of Felecia's famous last minute parties?" she asked and I nodded. She took a breath and said, "I guess. Is it for your birthday?"

"Yeah." I said. I should have known my mom would say that I could go, especially since it was being thrown for me. "So, you ready to go?" I asked. I was eager to get home and see what my dad and Gazzy had cooked up for my party. That surprise was going to be sweet.

She shook her head. "We have a meeting that I have to stay for. I won't be home 'till six." She sighed. She hated meetings. All the teachers did was sit around while the administrative staff told them how to do their jobs.

"That sucks." I said sympathetically. "Well, I guess I have to walk home."

"Yup." she said, not looking up from her paper work. I let out a huge sigh and she looked up. "No, you may not drive the car." Dang. She knew me too well.

"But Mom, you know I'm really good at it. You said so yourself." I groaned.

"Yes, but it's illegal." she reminded me. "You're only fourteen remember. I am not getting arrested for 'Child Endangerment'."

I sighed. "Then why did you and Fang even bother to teach me if I'm not going to be allowed to do it until I get my learner's next year." I didn't mean to sound whiny, but it was sort of unfair.

She sighed deeply. "You know we only taught you just in case anything happened and you needed to drive to get away."

My parents and everyone else in the flock were paranoid. They were convinced Itex would come and kidnap me so they had taught me a bunch of stuff for survival. I knew I'd never need it, but better safe than sorry I guess.

"Fine." I said, defeated. "I'll walk. Even though I can drive and have wings, I'll walk like a normal, boring person, which I totally am not."

"Have fun." she called as I left her classroom. The halls were deserted. Everyone was outside waiting on buses and their parents. I opened the front doors and stepped into the nice warm sun. It was a beautiful day and I was wishing I could go for a quick fly, but I knew that somehow my mom would find out and she would be mad, so I began to walk.

I hadn't even gotten off the school grounds when I heard Felecia shouting my name. I sighed and turned around. Sure enough, she was running after me, her hair flying behind her.

"Mel, guess what?" she asked, excitedly. I found myself feeling a little queasy. What now?

Before I had a chance to ask, she rushed on. "Okay, I know how much you hate guessing, so I'll tell you. Cory Reynolds said he'd come to the party. Isn't that awesome? I think he likes you." She was beginning to remind me of Nudge.

"Uh, yeah that's great." I said. Cory was in my science class and he was sort of cute. He had jet black hair and deep brown eyes. He sort of looked like Fang. He was really nice and smart, but I just didn't find him very attractive or very interesting. He usually went on and on about baseball. He was the pitcher on our school's team.

"I know." she said delightedly. "So, did you talk to your mom? Did she say you could go? Please tell me she said you could go. It would totally suck if you couldn't come to your own party. I suppose I could cancel, but I've already told everyone and they're really excited."

If I hadn't known Nudge for my entire life I would've had no idea what Felecia just said. "Relax, she said I could go."

She hugged me tightly. "Oh yay! That's totally awesome. Maybe Cory'll ask you out. Wouldn't that be awesome? You two would be so cute together. He'd be your first boyfriend. He'd give you your first kiss. I can see it now." Felecia got a dreamy look in her eyes.

"Uh, sounds great Felecia, but I gotta go. I have to help my dad get ready for my party. See ya!" I said, rushing off. I was super glad to get away from her.

A breeze whipped my long hair around and it was getting annoying. I pulled a hair bow out of my pocket and pulled my hair back. Much better. For some reason, I was starting to feel a little weird, but I shrugged it off. I was starting to remind myself of Max and the others. That was not good.

I walked for a while, our house wasn't even close to school, when a big grey van slowly pulled up beside me. I stopped and the driver rolled down his window. He was wearing a pair of sunglasses, a cowboy hat, and had long blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. He also had a shaggy beard. My parents had always taught me to be especially wary of strangers, so I was feeling a little nervous.

"Hey there little girl." he said in a southern accent. "I was wonderin' if you'd mind givin' me directions."

He seemed okay, so I nodded. "Sure. Where to?" I asked politely.

He pulled a map out of his glove compartment and I moved closer to his window. He pointed to a place on the map and said, "Right here."

I leaned to take a closer look at the map and he grabbed my arm. I suddenly knew what this was about. Itex had finally come to kidnap me. I tried to jerk away, but he had a strong grip and wasn't letting go. He pulled something out of his pocket. "Didn't your parents ever tell ya not to talk to strangers?" he drawled. I continued trying to jerk away, but he stabbed my arm with a syringe. I fell to the ground and everything went fuzzy. The last thing I thought was, _If they don't kill me, my parents will._

**So, did you guys think that was good? I wanted to make it longer, but I didn't know how. I hoped you enjoyed it all the same. As I have said probably a hundred times before, you guys really need to read 'NeoFlock' by Talon666. It's really good, I know you'll love it. Well, anyway, read and review. Updating ASAP.**


	4. Perfect Time For Panicking

**It's time for another chapter. Just a quick recap, Mel has been kidnapped by a crazy whitecoat cowboy. There's a sentence you don't see everyday. *Cracks up and rolls around in the floor with tears in my eyes, clutching my sides, and gasping for breath* Okay, maybe it's not quite that funny, but it's still laughable. Anyway, this chapter isn't in a particular POV, but we do go back to the original flock (plus Elisabeth of course). Now, before I begin, I have something to say. Please, please, please, with a cherry and sprinkles and marshmellows on top, read 'NeoFlock' by Talon666. Trust me, you'll love it. It's very good and extremely well written. Think about it? Alright, here's Chapter 3, but keep in mind what I said about 'NeoFlock'.**

Iggy walked over to the kitchen sink and turned on the faucet. He listened to the rush of water for a second before sticking his hands under. A second later, he brought one hand out from under the faucet and reached for the soap dispenser. He pumped it once and felt the soap fall on his hand. He lathered and then rinsed. He sighed as he shut off the faucet and reached for a dish towel.

Even though he wouldn't admit it, he was getting anxious. Elisabeth and Mel hadn't come home yet and it was almost six. They should've been back hours ago. What could be going on? Was it traffic or… something else? He shuddered. No. Elisabeth wouldn't let that happen. They were ok. Just late. But…

His ears pricked at a sound. It was the sound of the van pulling into the driveway. He let out a sigh of relief and his heart rate returned to normal. He heard gravel crunch as… one person walked up the driveway? He listened again to make sure he wasn't imagining it. He heard one set of footsteps walk up the porch, but they weren't frantic. It didn't make sense. He heard the door creak open and waited for an explanation.

"Hey Ig." his wife said sweetly as she sat her purse down on the kitchen table. She walked towards him and kissed his cheek tenderly. "Dinner smells great. Everyone upstairs?"

He kissed her back, but he was confused. Elisabeth wasn't worried that Mel was gone. Or did she know? And why was she late?

"You're late." he stated, throwing the dish towel into the laundry hamper. He decided to ask the simplest question first.

"I had a meeting." she said, slowly. "I thought Mel would've told you about it." She didn't know.

"Elisabeth," he began, "Mel isn't home. I thought she was with you."

Elisabeth's face fell. She had thought Mel would come straight home. What could have happened? No, not that. "I told her to come straight home." she said, beginning to panic.

Iggy sensed Elisabeth was getting hysterical, so he grabbed her arms and tried to calm her down. "Now sweetie, we don't know for sure if she's been… Maybe Felecia talked her into going home with her. You know how persuasive she can be."

Elisabeth shook her head. "No, she would've called." She had always told her daughter to call if she was going to be late or had a change of plans and Mel never forgot once. Why would she just forget today?

_Maybe it's the party planning. _Elisabeth told herself, trying to remain calm. _That's it. In all the excitement it must have just slipped her mind. _

"I'm going to call Sara." she said, pulling her cell phone out of her pocket. "You're probably right. Mel told me Felecia had planned a birthday party for her tomorrow. No need to worry." She dialed the number and waited anxiously for Sara Richards to answer.

"Hello? Richards residence. Sara Richards speaking. How can I help you?" Sara Richards was the kind of person who had to have everything just so and Elisabeth struggled not to laugh whenever she called.

"Sara? It's me, Elisabeth Smith."

"Oh, Elisabeth. Well, this is a surprise. How are you and your…amusing husband doing?"

Iggy and Elisabeth were the only people in town who had only been married once. Sara had divorced her first husband after two years of marriage. "Young love never lasts." she said anytime someone brought it up. Her husband's first wife had died of cancer after they had only been married for a couple of years. Iggy and Elisabeth were seen as unusual and Sara, being the biggest gossip in town, always wanted to know if they were having problems.

"Oh, we're fine." Elisabeth said, hoping Sara noticed the edge to her reply. She didn't.

"Well, that's great, but if anything does happen then you know you can come to me. So, what do I owe the pleasure of this phone call? A little late don't you think?"

"I was just wondering if Mel was over there. After school I had a meeting and she walked home by herself. I thought maybe she came over there to talk to Felecia about her party." Elisabeth held her breath, hoping that Sara would tell her Mel was over there and that she was perfectly fine.

"Well, no she's not here." Sara said, shocked. "How long has she been missing? I could have Bill make a search party." Bill Richards was the Chief of Police. "Normally it would take the station 48 hours before they'd file a Missing Person's Report let alone organize a search party, but seeing as Melody is Felecia's best friend I think he can make an exception."

That was the last thing Elisabeth wanted. "Oh, wait Sara. Mel just walked in. She must have been walking around. She likes to be by herself sometimes." Elisabeth hurriedly lied. She was still good at making up stories when the occasion called.

"Oh ok then. Well I'll suppose I'll talk to you later." Sara said and Elisabeth hung up without saying goodbye.

"She's not there Iggy." Elisabeth said, on the verge of tears. She had already begun to shake. Iggy wrapped his arms around her, but it was doing very little. Her only child, her little girl, had undoubtedly been kidnapped by the School. Who knew what she was going through as they stood there and did nothing. What would they do?

"Iggy, we have to go after her." Elisabeth said, getting out of his grip. She ran upstairs to their bedroom. She needed to pack some things. She heard Iggy thunder upstairs after her as she threw open their door.

She had begun hunting down materials when Iggy walked in. "Elisabeth, we can't just leave now." he told her.

"Iggy, we have to." she told him as she continued to grab things and put them in a small backpack. "She's our daughter and they've taken her. We have to get her back. We have to bring her home." Didn't he understand? Why wasn't he helping her? Why was he telling her no?

"It'd look suspicious if we left." he stated logically. "Besides, we aren't as young as we were sixteen years ago. We may be genetic hybrids built to survive, but they never expected us to last this long. It'll be harder than when we were kids. And another thing, we don't even know where she is."

She turned to him, her eyes red with tears. "So, you're saying all we can do is leave our daughter in the clutches of raving lunatics who want to section her brain and torture her? I thought you cared about her, about me. That's why I married you, because I knew that if anything happened I'd be safe with you. Maybe I was wrong."

He dragged her to their bed and made her sit down. "Is that what you think? You think that I don't care about her or you? Elisabeth, I'm out of my mind with worry. When I think of all the things they could be doing to her at this very moment, it makes my skin crawl."

"You're not acting like it." she replied coldly.

Iggy sighed, trying to shake off her comment. "Look, when a child goes missing the prime suspects are the parents. If we don't report her missing, then the suspicion rises. If we also turn up missing, then that suggests that we have dumped her body somewhere and are trying to hide any evidence. Do you want to go to prison? How would that help Melody at all?" He waited for her to speak.

He was right of course, but what would they do? Maybe they should file a report, after all Felecia's father was the Chief of Police.

She voiced her opinion to Iggy, but he shook his head. "It won't help Mel. We may get out of going to prison, but she'll still be trapped."

"So what do we do then?"

"We wait until Felecia's party. When Mel doesn't show up, Felecia will call wanting to know why. We'll tell her Melody got mad at us and ran away. We'll tell her she said she was still angry over the bulimic thing and that she was going to her Auntie Val's." He had carefully formulated this plan while Elisabeth was on the phone with Sara.

"Okay, but how do we prove she's there? Felecia will want to talk to Mel to make sure she's ok. What'll we do then?"

Iggy grinned mischievously. "Gazzy." he stated simply. "We give her the Gasman's cell number."

Elisabeth was confused. How would that help anything? "And giving her Gaz's number helps how?"

"Remember his ability?"

For a moment Elisabeth thought he meant Gazzy's ability to knock people out with his stink. Then she remembered his ability to mimic voices and she got where Iggy was going with his idea. "Right, he could sound like Mel and Dr. Martinez, but Felecia knows Mel really well. She won't believe it for long."

Iggy grinned again. "Angel lives with Gazzy. She knows everything Felecia does. She can give him any information he needs to pull it off."

Elisabeth nodded. She had to give Iggy props, he had a good plan. "Ok. I don't like it, but you're right. This is the best thing we can do."

"She'll be fine." he whispered, rubbing her shoulders like he always did when she was scared or worried. "She has us for parents and had the whole flock to raise her. We've taught her everything she needs for survival. She knows how to cook, first aid, how to drive, how to fight, and everything else that could help her. She'll be fine."

In an instant, they were teenagers again and Iggy was comforting her before their big battle with the Director. Her lips found his and they began kissing. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight, never letting go.

A light tap on the door brought them out of the past. They stopped kissing and Elisabeth got up to open the door. She saw Gazzy standing in the hall with the house phone in his hand.

"It's for you. It's Mrs. Richards." Elisabeth took the phone and before she put it to her ear, Gazzy said, "Hey, where's Mel? Are we going to get this party started or what?"

Elisabeth motioned for him to come in and put the phone to her ear. "Hello?" she asked.

"Elisabeth? This is Sara Richards again. I just wanted to make sure Melody was ok."

Elisabeth sighed. Might as well tell her the lie now "Actually Sara, Mel got into a bit of a fight with us. It's over the bulimic thing."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. What happened?" she asked and Elisabeth knew she'd be hearing this story told all around town. She knew she'd be followed by whispers wherever she went.

"Uh, let's just say she's going to be living with her Auntie Val for awhile. She says that she understands her better than Jeff and I. I've already talked to Dr. Martinez and Mel's on her way there now." As Elisabeth told her lie, tears ran down her face.

"Well, I'm sure Felecia would like to keep in contact with Melody. They were close. Can I have the number?"

Elisabeth gave her the Gasman's cell number, said goodbye, and hung up. At least that was over.

"Okay, I would love to know what's up." Gaz said.

"We all would." said a voice from the doorway. It was Max. Everyone had heard the phone call and wanted to know why there wasn't a party going on downstairs and where Mel was.

"They've taken her." Elisabeth told them. "Itex, the School, whatever, they have Melody." Fresh tears rolled down her face and Nudge, Ella, and Angel rushed over to her, their arms wide open.

"So, what're we going to do?" Fang asked silently. They all knew this day would come, but it seemed that it came too soon. And on her birthday too.

"What can we do?" Iggy asked. "We aren't as agile. She'll be ok. We've taught her everything she needs to know. She can take care of herself."

Max nodded. "You're right, but hopefully she won't be alone. Maybe she'll find other bird kids."

"Yeah." Ella said. "Let's not loose hope completely. Maybe she'll escape. Maybe she'll come home."

Fang shook his head. "She's too much like us. She won't come home if she escapes. She'll try to finish what we started. If she finds any friends, she'll drag them into it too."

And everyone knew he was right. That night, they celebrated Melody's birthday and hoped that she was going to escape. She was, after all, a member of the flock. She would be fine, she was a survivor, but that didn't make them worry any less. In the back of their minds, they weren't so sure they'd ever see her again.

**So, how did that sound? I didn't want this to have a whole lot of the flock, so I decided that they weren't going after Mel. It would just be too hard to cover up. Well, keep reading and reviewing. I'll update again soon.**


	5. Jewel and Skye

**Hey guys, are you in the mood for a new chapter? I hope so, 'cause you're getting one. Now, before I begin I have a shout out to give. Talon666, I just want to thank you for being a faithful reviewer and for mentioning my story in your notes. You guys should totally read his story 'NeoFlock' and his new story 'Deadline'. Both are excellent, trust me. Well, without further ado, here's Chapter 4 for your reading pleasure.**

My head was pounding when I came back into consciousness. I didn't dare open my eyes, I was too scared. Of all the times I could've been kidnapped they just had to pick my fourteenth birthday. What did they want with me anyway? What were they going to do? Why me?

"Hello?" I heard a voice ask. "Um are you okay? Hello?"

I opened my eyes and screamed in surprise. There was a girl with long, flaming red hair and bright green eyes looming over me. When she saw my reaction, she began to laugh.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." she said sweetly, pulling back. She looked younger than me, but not by much. "I'm Jewel by the way." She seemed okay, not like she was going to hurt me or anything.

"My name's Melody." I told her. "Um, where exactly am I?" I asked, looking around. The room I was in was pretty small, but it had a set of bunk beds and a door that I assumed led to a closet. It didn't look anything like the description of the School that my parents had given me. They told me they were put in cages and that it smelled like antiseptic, but this room didn't really have a smell.

"Oh, your at a place called the School." she said. If I was at the School, then why didn't it seem like it? Where were the crazy scientists, the cages, the chrome everything? Had my parents just been exaggerating?

"How long have I been here?" I asked, sitting up. How long had I been gone? It could have been years for all I knew.

"Uh, in this room? My guess is about two hours. In the School? Uh, that's a hard one? Do you know when you were taken?"

Before I could answer, my stomach let out an all mighty growl. How long had it been since I'd last eaten?

I blushed and Jewel giggled. She crossed to the other side of the room and came back with a tray loaded with sandwiches. I looked to see where she had gotten them. They had a mini fridge. Maybe my parents had been exaggerating.

She handed me a sandwich and I took it thankfully. "Um let me think." I said, getting back to her question. "The 19th of March. That was my fourteenth birthday."

"Oh, then you've only been here for a couple of days." she answered. Now that I could get a better look at Jewel, I noticed that her hair was super long. It went all the way down to her lower back. And I thought I had long hair. She was also pretty pale and had some freckles on her face.

I decided to let my wings out. They were feeling pretty sore. I unfurled them and Jewel's mouth went wide with surprise.

"Something wrong?" I asked. Maybe she didn't have wings.

"It's just that, your wings are so beautiful. I've never seen anything like them." She marveled at my steely gray 12 and a half foot wings.

I was beginning to get embarrassed, so I tried to change the subject. "Do you have wings?" I asked, trying to draw attention away from myself. I hated being the center of attention.

She nodded slowly. "But they aren't anything like yours." She unfurled her wings and this time I was the one with my mouth hanging open. Her wings were about the same size as mine except hers were an auburn color.

"Wow." I said, stunned and this time Jewel blushed. "Are you kidding? Yours are amazing." I told her.

"Thanks." she muttered. "So, I have some questions for you." she said, changing the subject.

"Well, I have some questions for you too." I said. Was that the understatement of the year or what? "How about I ask you one and then you ask me one and we keep going back and forth until all of our questions are answered?"

"Okay." she said. "Shoot. Ask me anything you want to know."

I took a deep breath. "Is this really the School? This is nothing like my parents described."

"Yeah, this is the School alright." she said, looking a little depressed. "You see, they make it look like they're helping us here so they won't be shut down. That's why we aren't locked away in cages. It's pretty bad."

Yikes. That was just terrible. Fang had tried to show the world exactly what the School was doing with his blog when he was my age. Why did it just stop working? My guess was that there was money involved. Big money.

"That's awful." I said, picking up another sandwich and taking a bite. I swallowed and said, "Your turn. What do you wanna know?"

She looked thoughtful for a second and then asked, "How exactly did you get here? I mean, I know you were kidnapped, but how did you get the wings? You said something about your parents describing the School to you."

That was an easy question. "My parents had been experiments at the School, but they escaped. Ever heard of Maximum Ride?" I asked.

She nodded. "Once or twice. She's kind of a legend here. Why? Is she your mom?" she asked, her eyes getting wide with admiration.

I shook my head. "She's my aunt. She married my Uncle Fang. Long story." I said.

"Okay," she said, not pressing matters. "Your turn."

"How old are you?" I asked. I assumed she was younger than me, but looks can be deceiving.

"Uh, twelve I think. I'm not entirely sure. I have so many questions I want to ask you about your aunt Max, but I think those can wait." she said, thinking up a question about me. "Got it. What's it like having a normal life?"

I sighed. How did I explain that? "My life's not exactly normal. How many normal kids go flying every weekend?" I sighed again. "Uh, well school's a big pain in the rear. Tons of homework, lots of teachers getting on my nerves, telling me it's impossible that I know so much, uh fake friends who pretend they care about me but they don't really have a clue who I am nor do they really care. My family's great though. That's the best part of a normal life."

I thought for a while about my next question. I didn't know what to ask at first, but I finally thought of a good question. "So, what are your abilities?" I asked. I was eager to find out what cool powers the whitecoats had given the new generation of genetic hybrids.

Jewel looked confused. "Uh, what exactly do you mean by 'abilities'?" she asked. Maybe they didn't use the word 'abilities'. Maybe they used 'powers' or 'skills'.

"Uh, okay let's use me for an example. I am super smart, though not as smart as my mother as I am constantly reminded, I have a photographic memory, and I have minor healing powers. So, what can you do?" I asked, getting more curious by the second.

She looked at me dumbstruck. Did I have unusual powers or something? "Uh, I can't do anything like that. I don't even know anyone that can do stuff like that. You're the first person I've ever met that could."

"Are you sure? Everyone in my family can do stuff like that. I thought it was normal." I thought for a second. Why would the whitecoats stop giving them abilities? Then I understood. "Oh." I said, slowly. "The whitecoats didn't give you abilities because if any of you escaped the abilities would make it harder for them to recapture you. They learned a lot from dealing with my parents and the rest of the flock."

Jewel still looked confused, but went along with me anyway. "Uh, ok my turn. Let me think." She thought for a second and said, "Okay, I've got one. Do you have any siblings?"

I sighed. "No. Just me. I've always wanted siblings, but I never really needed any. I always had people to play with. The flock comes around a lot and they're just like having siblings. Older siblings, but that's still fine." I never had a dull moment growing up. "Uh, okay my next question. Do you share this room with anyone?" I asked.

Jewel smiled brightly. "Yeah, I totally forgot. I share this room with Skye. He's like my older brother. He's fifteen we think." She looked at a watch on her wrist. "Speaking of Skye-"

Before she could finish, the door opened and my mouth fell to the floor. Standing in the doorway was the single cutest guy I had ever seen. He had to be at least six feet tall. He had shaggy white blonde hair that was styled sort of like Fang's. His eyes were dark, but I couldn't tell what color they were. He wasn't wearing a shirt and I could tell that he had muscles. Then I saw his wings. They were beautiful. They were probably fourteen feet wide. The tips were white and there were ten different shades of grey, starting light and ending dark. The end tips were black. I was in love.

I looked to his face and he seemed to be checking me out too. Could it really be? Did he like me too? When he noticed me staring at him, his face turned into a scowl, he slammed the door shut, and stalked over to me and Jewel.

"Who's this?" he asked Jewel. Great, I was in love with a total jerk. Why did stuff like this always have to happen to me? I rolled my eyes at him. Two could play at that game.

"My name's Melody." I said in an annoyed tone. "I'm guessing your Skye then." I crossed my arms for an added affect.

"You guessed right Princess." he said, copying my attitude. He even crossed his arms.

I stood up and pressed my finger into his chest. "Listen here buddy. The name is Melody. You can call me Mel if you want, but don't ever call me Princess. Got it?" I was not going to let him walk all over me. If I had learned one thing from Max it was not to be a door mat.

He threw his hands up and backed away. "Fine Mel. Whatever you say." he said and I could tell he was just humoring me. "What're you doing here anyway? Where did you come from?" His eyes fell on the sandwich in my hand. "And why are you eating my food? Jewel! Please tell me they don't expect her to stay here."

She cringed. "Okay, I won't tell you then." He groaned loudly. "It's not her fault Skye. Why are you being so mean?"

"I'm not being mean." he said, defending his self. "I just don't know where she's going to sleep. We only have two beds. Wouldn't want her to have to sleep on the floor."

"Uh, actually I was thinking about getting out the hammock." Jewel said, twisting a lock of her hair.

"You're going to make her sleep on the hammock?" Skye asked.

"Uh, no. I actually thought that you could." Jewel said, waiting for him to explode.

"First my sandwich and now my bed? Is nothing sacred?" he asked. "Ugh, fine she can stay. She won't last long anyway." he said, picking up a sandwich and walking to the closet.

As he opened the door I asked, "What is that supposed to mean?"

He pulled a white t-shirt over his head and pulled his wings through the slits. "Nothing, I just mean that, well we have to fight here. I don't know how you'll be able to take the beatings."

"We'll see." I said. "And now to answer your other questions. I came from Arizona. My parents were former experiments at the School and they escaped. Apparently the School found out about me and took me. Anything else you wanna know?"

He rolled his eyes. "No, that'll do. The less I know the better."

"Uh, okay Jewel. Next question." I said, getting back on track. I was going to ignore Skye until I got out of there. "How do things work here?"

A mischievous grin spread across Jewel's face. "Hey Skye, do you know who Melody's related to?" she asked, completeley ignoring my question.

He looked up. "No Jewel and I don't really care." he said and then he went back to staring at the ground.

"Maximum Ride is her aunt." Jewel said. What was she getting at? What did Max have to do with anything? When was Jewel going to get back to my question?

He looked up. "_THE_ Maximum Ride?" he asked incredulously. "She was the only experiment to ever get out of the School. Well, besides the rest of her flock. How is she your aunt?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "She married my Uncle Fang. But what does that have to do with anything?" I asked.

"We've been coming up with an escape plan for forever. We wanna get out of here. Can you help us? I mean, you said you're really smart and escaping is in your genes. Sort of." Jewel begged.

I thought about it for a minute. I needed out too. Even if it meant helping Skye I would do it. Jewel didn't deserve to be stuck here. I really was like Max and my mom. "Of course I will. Or, at least I'll try."

Jewel gave me a huge hug. "Oh thank you so much Mel. You really have no idea how much this means to us. Right Skye?" she asked.

"Yeah, whatever. I'll thank her when we get out." he said rudely. Why was he so horrible to me? I had a feeling I'd never find out.

The door swung open and the whitecoat who kidnapped me walked in. "You." he said, pointing to me. "Come with me." He grabbed my arm and pulled me behind him.

As he dragged me down the hall, I memorized every exit, every elevator, every set of stairs, and every turn. I had an escape to begin planning. I was going to get home even if it almost killed me.

**Okay guys, did you like that? Jewel and Skye are Mel's new friends. I hope I described them okay. It was sort of hard to describe Skye's wings the way I wanted to. Well, read and review. Updating soon.**


	6. One Twisted Fruit Loop

**Hey guys, happy Earth Day. To celebrate the occasion, I have a new chapter. Okay, let me get started. In my last chapter, we met Jewel and Skye, Mel's new friends. In this chapter, we meet a couple more people. One of them is old and one is new. They are both characters that I have created. Now, I really think you guys should read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666. He is an amazing author. If you like my stories, then you are sure to like his. Well, I think I've held off long enough. It's time to see what's happening to Mel next.**

The whitecoat cowboy was dragging me down a dimly lit hallway. He had felt the need to take the stairs, running all the way. I swear, he almost yanked my arm out of its socket.

"So, you gonna tell me where you're taking me parder." I said, mimicking his accent. The Gasman had taught me a little. I wasn't as good as him, he could make himself sound exactly like any person he wanted too. All I could do was imitate accents.

In response, he jerked my arm, swinging me in front of him. "Smart ass." he grumbled. He twisted my arm behind my back and kept pushing me forward.

It took everything in me to keep from screaming out in pain, but I tried to remember what Max had always told me: "Pain is only in your head. Don't think about it and it won't hurt. Never let them see you cry. Don't let them think they've beaten you.".

I wouldn't give this guy the satisfaction of seeing my pain. I wouldn't shed a single tear no matter how much it hurt, no matter how scared I was, no matter how much I wanted to go home to my mom and dad. I wasn't giving in that easily. I wasn't going to let them down.

Eventually, we stopped at a big wooden door. There was an intercom panel on the side which the whitecoat pushed. "It's Dr. Jackson with the girl ma'am." he drawled. He let go of the button.

"Good, good." came a woman's voice two seconds later. "Perfect timing. Come in. I've been waiting to see her."

The door swung forward opening up to a dimly lit office. Was every room in this place dimly lit? The whitecoat shoved me forward into the room, still holding my arm behind my back.

When I got a little further in the room, I saw a huge wooden desk behind a wall of computers. In the desk chair was a woman with long blonde hair. She was smiling warmly, as if she was trying to convince me that this place was heaven on earth. I knew better.

She stood up and extended her hand, apparently hoping I'd shake it. I didn't. She drew her hand back and said, "Well hello Melody. How are you today?"

I pulled on my best Max attitude. "Oh, just fine thanks. Well, except for the fact that I've been kidnapped and put in this hell hole against my will. But, other than that I'm perfectly fine." The flock would be so proud of me.

The woman's smile faded slightly. "I see Max has taught you well." she sighed. "Do you know who I am Melody dear?"

Melody dear? Who did this lady think she was fooling? "Hmm, let me guess." I said, just as sarcastically as Max. "Oh, I know. You're the twisted fruit loop running this freaky prison. Is that correct?"

"Melody, Melody. You've got it all wrong." she said, sitting back down.

"Oh yeah? Okay then, who are you and why am I here? Please enlighten me." I was pretty good at sounding like Max. Who knew?

She sighed. "I am Dr. Heather Mason." she said.

Dr. Heather Mason? Why did that sound so familiar? I was sure I'd heard it somewhere before a long time ago, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. "And that tells me what?" I asked.

"Your parents never mentioned me?" she asked in mock surprise. "My mother was the Director of the School a long time ago. I went to school with your parents for a few months. I knew who they were and told my mom. The two years after that she spent training me to be Director and trying to destroy the flock. Unfortunately, she was killed by a friend of Jeb Batchelder. Tragic. But, now I'm in charge."

Yep, one seriously crazed out fruit loop. "Well that answers one question, but why am I here?"

She smiled. "You're here, because I want you to help me."

She was seriously crazy. What was she on? "No." I stated flat out. "There is no way I'd ever help you. Not after what your mom did to my family. Forget it."

"Melody, don't make the same mistakes your parents and the rest of the flock did."

She snapped her fingers and a figure stepped out of the shadows. It was a boy who looked a few years older than me. He was about as tall as my dad. He had spiky, copper colored hair and, I think, hazel eyes. He was wearing a red t-shirt that made his chocolate brown wings stand out.

I realized what she was trying to do. She was trying to persuade me with a guy. Well, that wasn't going to work on me. Skye was much cuter. Did I just think that? Oh geez.

"Melody, I'd like you to meet Tanner. He's one of my best. He can help you, show you things your family couldn't do in their wildest dreams." she said, smiling proudly at him.

"That's because my family didn't dream about hurting innocent people." I growled. This lady was nuts. I was not going to betray my family and hurt people just because she offered me a cute guy. Felecia might be that shallow, but I wasn't.

She shook her head. "Think about it Melody. Don't be a fool like your family. Join me. You'll be happy. Help me." she said.

I sighed, pretending to consider it. "What exactly are you planning on doing? How am I supposed to help?" I asked. I wanted to know what she was up to.

"I'm not as idealistic as my mother. She wanted to wipe out half the world's population so she could give the planet a new start. Me? I just want to make money. Here we build super weapons and train experiments in combat and then sell them to other countries. That's how you can help me. I need your brain Melody. So, will you think about it?" she asked, grinning. She seriously thought I was going to do it.

"Trust me Melody," Tanner said softly, "You'll love it. The ones helping the Director get more privileges." He grinned at me, trying to get me to fall for him.

I pretended to be deep in thought. "Hmm. I think…my answer is…no."

Tanner lunged at me so fast that I didn't have a chance to react. In five seconds, he had grabbed me by the throat and pushed me against a wall. He glared angrily at me, choking me. I couldn't breathe. I was losing oxygen fast.

"Tanner, that's enough!" Dr. Mason shouted. "Don't kill her! She may change her mind after a few days."

Tanner glared at me hard and then dropped his arm, grinning. He walked back over to the desk and turned around, still glaring at me, his arms folded across his chest.

I slid to the floor, sucking in air. He had almost killed me. There was no way I was changing my mind. That experience had just made me even more determined to bust out. I glared at Dr. Mason. How could a person be so horrible? I was guessing her family had a history of mental illness. It would explain a heck of a lot.

"Dr. Jackson, take her back to her room." Dr. Mason said in a bored tone, sitting back down on her desk.

The stupid whitecoat cowboy kicked me, yanked me up, and dragged me out of the room and up the stairs.

I needed to come up with an escape plan fast. I wasn't as strong as the flock. They had lived their lives like this while I had lived mine in a home full of loving people who were trying to teach me how to help myself in situations like this. I never knew it was this horrible. I had always thought they had been exaggerating just a smidge. I know knew how wrong I was.

**Well, in this chapter we meet the older, crazier Heather Mason. Like mother, like daughter. We also meet Tanner. In the next chapter Mel has a conversation with Jewel and learns some pretty surprising things. Read and review. Updating soon. Check out Talon666's stories like I asked. See ya'll later.**


	7. A Very Interesting Late Night Q & A

**Hey guys! Did you miss me? I hope so, but I'm back with another chapter. It is a filler, but it's sort of funny and you learn some things. Yay for learning! *Claps a little too enthusiastically* Ok, so you probably are thinking I've gone off the deep end. Well, I haven't. Trust me, it's not a lot of learning, so it won't hurt your brain too much. Haha. *Wipes tear out of eye* Now you all think I'm probably some kind of nut case. I assure, I'm not. I just have ADHD. No big deal. Okay, now let me get on with this chapter before you all kill me. Remember, read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666. You'll love them, I promise. I would never lie to any of you. He is one great author and I think he deserves more recognition then he gets. Uh oh, I'm babbling again. I seem to be doing that a lot lately. On with the chapter, before you hate me and stop reading.**

The whitecoat dragged me back to my room rather roughly. "Tomorrow you're mine." he snarled before opening the door, shoving me inside, and slamming the door. Can you say rude much? What had I ever done to him anyway?

I rolled my eyes and turned around to see Jewel looking at me, concerned, and Skye, lounging in his hammock, looking at the ceiling. Somehow, that made me feel a little hurt, but I shrugged it off. Couldn't let something that stupid bother me.

I plopped down on my new bottom bunk and grabbed another sandwich out of the mini fridge. It had a tomato slice on it. I hated tomatoes. They were about the only thing I wouldn't eat. I wouldn't eat one even if I was starving. I placed it in the plastic baggie that the sandwich had been in and threw it in the small garbage can next to the fridge.

"What happened?" Jewel asked after a silence so long that I had finished my sandwich and was working on another one, throwing away yet another tomato slice. She looked nervous and it made me wonder.

"Uh, well I was taken to the Director's office and she tried to get me to work for her." I replied.

She looked slightly sad. "Oh, so I guess you're leaving huh?" she asked. "It's ok. Really. Me and Skye are used to it now. It's happened a couple times before."

I was thoroughly confused. Leaving? Oh, she had obviously thought that I had agreed to the Director's offer. "No, I said I wasn't going to do it. Why would you think so?" I asked.

A big grin spread across her face and I thought I heard Skye groan. "I'm so glad you aren't leaving. I don't know why I thought Maximum Ride's niece would just give in to that evil woman. What was I thinking?" She hugged me. "Thanks Mel."

I hugged her back. "You're welcome." She let go and then I asked, "So, what's this about you being used to people leaving? You said it's happened a couple of times before."

I heard Skye shift in the hammock and Jewel looked sad and depressed again. "Oh, well there are these two kids who used to be our friends who are now two of the Director's three favorite cronies. Tanner and Willow. Tanner was Skye's best friend and Willow and I got along pretty well too."

Tanner. "Wait a second." I said, causing Jewel to look surprised. "Is Tanner really tall with spiky, copper colored hair and dark chocolate brown wings?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah." she said slowly. "But, how do you know that?"

I sighed. "Well, while I was down there, the Director used Tanner to try to persuade me to join her. When I still refused he lunged at me and tried to choke me." I said, grabbing my neck and breathing a little more heavily. I normally didn't get scared, it was part of growing up with the flock, but when he was choking me, I couldn't help but feel afraid.

I noticed that Skye was sitting up in his hammock, breathing deeply, his jaw clenched. Why was he reacting like that? Maybe he was upset that his best friend would do that to someone. Yes, that was definitely it.

"Yeah, well Tanner's a couple years older than Skye. About…seventeen." Jewel continued. Skye had calmed down and was lying on his side again, facing the wall. "Um, like I said, they were best friends. Tanner was always really good at fighting, Dr. Mason saw that. One day she asked him to help her and he jumped at the chance."

She turned to look at Skye for a second and then continued. "He rushed to tell Skye, asking him to talk to the Director too. Skye wouldn't hear of it. He didn't trust her, he hated her. They got into a fight. Tanner bloodied Skye up pretty badly. Haven't spoken since, well except for Tanner insulting Skye when they have to fight and Skye cussing him out. It's pretty bad." She went quiet and looked over her shoulder at Skye again. He was still lying down, trying to stay calm I supposed.

"What about Willow?" I asked, remembering the name. Skye shifted again. This one must be bad too.

Jewel looked at me unsurely. It was like she couldn't decide whether she should tell me about Willow or not. It sounded like the loss of her was worse than the loss of Tanner. I wondered why.

"Well," Jewel started out slowly, carefully. "Willow's about Skye's age, we think. About a month after Tanner went over to the dark side, she followed him. That time, there was no fight. Skye and I just sat here and stared at the walls every time we had nothing to do. The first time we had to fight her was brutal. She massacred us. We never thought she was capable of that." She cast her eyes to the floor and nervously played with a strand of super long red hair.

"Wow." I whispered. "That must have been horrible. Do you know why she decided to help the Director?" I asked, hoping this wasn't pushing too far.

"We have a couple theories. We think she either did it because Tanner talked her into it or because she wanted protection. She knew the Director valued people who helped her. She knew she'd be safe. She wasn't the best fighter before she joined the Director."

Skye had put his pillow over his face. He was pressing down on it with his hands, like he was trying to suffocate himself.

Jewel looked at me and whispered, "He does that all the time. Don't worry about it. Everyone has ways of dealing with things and that's one of Skye's." She smiled slyly, like she knew something. It was a look I'd seen on Angel a couple of times before.

I tried to get my mind on something besides Skye. "Uh, you said the Director had three favorites. Tanner and Willow are two, so who's the third?" I asked.

Jewel made a face that caused me to chuckle. "Flint." She spat the name out like it was poison. "He's a year older than me and meaner than a striped snake. I hate him." she said, shaking her head in disgust.

"That bad huh?" I asked, curious to know more.

She nodded her head. "He was never a friend of ours. When he was first brought here, it was clear to everyone that he was going to be on the Director's side. Tanner used to hate him too, but now he trains Flint, treats him like his little brother in a way. You'll meet him and Willow tomorrow. It's our turn to fight them."

I had remembered my question from earlier. "Jewel, how do things run around here?" I asked, hoping for an answer this time.

"Well, we have to get up around seven. Sometimes we get up earlier, but if we get up later…" She pulled her shirt sleeve down, exposing her shoulder. I looked closely and there was a scar.

I took in a hissing breath. "Electric cattle prod?" I asked. When she nodded I felt a pain run through my heart. Those cruel vile, sick, twisted- I couldn't even say what they were. How could they get away with this?

"It didn't hurt much." she assured me. "A quick little zap. No big deal." She shrugged it off, reminding me of Nudge.

"Anyway, we eat breakfast and then we have certain things we need to do. Cleaning, fighting, tests, that kind of stuff. It depends on the day. I'll let you know what we have to do every day when we wake up. It usually takes a long time. We don't ever get lunch. When we finish our assigned task for the day, they make us train. Run, spar each other, whatever. Then at around eight, we can come in our rooms and rest and eat and do other stuff."

She paused to take a breath and then started up again. "If the Director calls someone out, they have to go to her office, no matter what time it is or what you're doing. If the government comes in for an inspection, we all have to scrub the place spotless the day before. We get rests on the day they are here, so Dr. Mason and the others don't wind up in jail. Those are also the days we get real food. Every other day all we get are sandwiches. No one is ever full, except for Tanner, Willow, Flint, and a few others. We can also go to sleep whenever, but if we fall asleep during our tasks, we get zapped or beat, it depends on what they feel like."

It was worse than when my family had been here. They were just locked in cages, fed very little, and made to do excruciatingly painful tests on a daily basis. Here, while we got a mini fridge and rooms with beds, that was about the only luxury. Every day we had to do back breaking work, tests, and training.

I let out a yawn, suddenly feeling sleepy. I hadn't realized how worn out I was until Skye had started snoring. I wondered if every bird kid did that, but decided I could find out later. At that moment, I was too exhausted.

Jewel looked a little sleepy too, so I asked, "Think we should hit the hay?" She nodded and let out a louder yawn then mine.

I crawled into the bottom bunk and threw the worn, gray cover over myself. It was itchy, but I didn't care. For some reason the pillow's smell soothed me. I wondered about it for a second and then remembered this had been Skye's bed before he had had to sleep in the hammock.

_Forget it Mel. _I ordered myself. _He's a jerk. He's rude. He hates you. _

_But he's cute. _I answered back. I looked at his sleeping figure for a second then shook my head. What was I thinking? I pounded my pillow and then rolled over, looking at the wall.

A few minutes later, Jewel had drifted off into sleep. I could tell because she was snoring.

I suddenly thought of my family. I wondered what they were doing. I knew they weren't coming for me. They couldn't, for a lot of reasons. Max would probably be on the phone with Jeb or her mother, trying to figure some way to get me. Fang would be trying to keep Max from going into hysterics. My mom would be crying and Dad would be soothing her. Nudge, the Gasman, and Ella would be very quiet, not like themselves at all. Angel would be trying to keep everyone calm.

I smiled, knowing exactly what Angel would be saying to me in my head if she were there with me.

"_It's okay Mel. Busting out of here will be no problem. You're like Max and Elisabeth, good at coming up with plans. Everything will be alright. In the meantime, just try to stay safe." _That's what she'd say to me.

I fell asleep thinking about my family. I couldn't wait to see them again. But I wondered what would happen to Jewel… and Skye.

**So, did you guys like that? Probably not my best work, but I still think it's a pretty decent chapter. Longer than usual for a filler. Read and review. Tell your friends. Read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666. Peace, love, and ice cream. (Silly Addison haha.)**


	8. Wake Up Call

**Hey guys. Sup? I'm so excited that it's almost summer. Just 5 more weeks of school. Unfortunately, the last week is devoted to exams. Boo. I'm sure all of you understand. As most of you know, I have no idea what I'm doing with this story. Well, I have some ideas, but they're all very vague and won't happen until much later. If you all have any ideas whatsoever, please don't hesitate to share. I promise I will credit you. Just please give me some small idea. Otherwise, it'll be a long time before I get to post another update. I'm trying really hard, but writer's block is just way too strong. Well, one last thing before I get on with this chapter. Please, please read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by my good friend Talon666. Amazing author, amazing stories. You'll love them. Okay, on with the chapter!**

I woke up to someone beating me with pillows. I didn't want to get up, but it was getting pretty hard to just lay there ignoring them. I wanted them to cut it out and I had a pretty good idea as to who was doing it.

_Gazzy. _I thought. _Or, maybe Angel. No, one of them would've said something by now. _

I opened my eyes to see who it was. An unfamiliar face with bright red hair and green eyes was staring at me, holding a pillow that was poised to hit me. I screamed and fell off of the bed. It took me a minute to realize where I was and that the red headed girl holding a pillow over her head was Jewel.

"You okay?" she asked, looking down at me. She was looking at me like I was crazy.

"Sorry Jewel." I said, standing up. "I forgot where I was. I thought I was at home in my own bed and that you were the Gasman or Angel or someone." I looked around the boring white room. My eyes fell on Skye's hammock. He wasn't in it and I was curious as to where he was.

Jewel, noticing where I was looking grinned and said, "He's probably in the bathroom. Of course, the Director might have called him down. She does it every so often, hoping he'll join her." she chuckled.

I shrugged. "Why should I care where he is?" I asked. The truth was, I had been worried that something had happened to him. Max and the others had told me that sometimes some of the kids would just disappear and never be seen again. They had been terminated. I was relieved to know that Skye was ok, not that I'd ever admit it.

"Mel." Jewel said, throwing a grey shirt at me and knocking me out of my thoughts. I caught it and she said, "It's mine. It's a little too big. It'll probably fit you."

"Thanks." I said, pulling off my shirt. I hadn't even gotten it all the way over my head before the door opened and then quickly slammed shut. I yanked off the shirt, surprised.

"Sorry Skye!" Jewel yelled, her face was tinged pink. What did she have to be embarrassed about? Skye hadn't just seen her without a shirt on. I was blood red. I quickly pulled the shirt on that Jewel gave me. It was a perfect fit.

"Is it safe to come in?" I heard Skye ask, in an annoyed tone, from the hallway.

"Yeah!" Jewel shouted. "Sorry Mel. I didn't know he was coming. You okay?" Poor Jewel. She thought it was her fault. Skye was the one who should've knocked in the first place.

As Skye walked in I said, "It's okay Jewel." Suddenly, I realized I was really hungry.

"Hey Jewel, can I have something to eat?" I asked. "I'm kinda hungry."

She nodded. "Sure. Hey Skye, go get Mel a sandwich."

Skye rolled his eyes. "She can get her own sandwich." he grumbled. I was completely fed up with him. Why was he so horrible to me? Well, two could play at that game. If he was going to be mean to me, then I'd be mean right back.

"It's okay Jewel. I'll get it myself." I walked to the fridge, opened the door, and grabbed a sandwich. Before I closed the door I said, "It's probably too difficult for Skye anyway."

I flopped down on my bed and took a bite of my sandwich in triumph. Then I spit it out into my hand. Yuck. I forgot about the tomatoes. I pulled it out, disgusted, and dropped it into the plastic baggie.

Skye laughed his head off, clutching his stomach while Jewel shot an annoyed look at him.

"Well excuse me for hating tomatoes." I spat at him. He laughed even harder, gasping for breath. I let him finish his fit of laughter before I even thought about responding.

"Listen Princess," he said when he was finished laughing, "around here we can't afford to be picky." He then looked down at his watch. "Alarm in five, four, three…"

Before I had a chance to ask what was going on, an alarm went off. It was the loudest, most annoying sound I had ever heard. And I thought my alarm clock back home was bad.

"Mel, you might want to throw away the sandwich!" Jewel shouted over the blaring alarm as she jumped up.

I nodded and discarded the sandwich, following her and Skye into the hall.

It was a pretty strange sight. There were all of these other mutant hybrid kids standing at the doors to their room like soldiers. I glanced up the hall and a tall man with graying hair was muttering to the experiments, all of whom looked scared stiff. I also noticed he had an electric cattle prod in his hand. Yikes.

Eventually, the creepy dude made his way to us. "Ah yes." he said. "De troublemakers." he said, eyeing Jewel and Skye. "Still rebellious I see."

Skye rolled his eyes and Jewel stared straight ahead. This seemed to annoy him.

"Ven I ask you a question I expect you to answer." he said and then he zapped Jewel. She cringed from the pain.

I'm naturally maternal like my mother and Max, so of course that really ticked me off. "Hey, pick on someone your own size." I said.

He turned to me. "Disobedient and smart mouthed. You haf pale eyes and dark hair. You must be Melody. De flock has taught you to haf no respect for authority I see."

Suddenly, I knew who this guy was. My parents had told me all about him. Dr. ter Borcht. Gazzy had often made fun of his accent, so I had to try my best not to laugh. "It's not that I don't have respect for authority, it's more like I don't have respect for you." I corrected him just like Max would have.

"You know, I had de pleasure of meeting your mother once." he said. "She vas a bitch just like you and your father, well he vas useless, blind, a complete failure."

"Shut up." I told him, clenching my fists, hatred getting the better of me. Even Max couldn't always keep her emotions in check.

"Ah, ah. Ve vouldn't vant to haf to hurt you. You could be very valuable. Ve vouldn't vant to haf to lower de price for… damaged goods." he said with a smirk. He then went on his way, zapping other defenseless kids.

Jewel turned to me. "Mel, you shouldn't have done that. He's never going to leave you alone. He'll find some way to hurt you."

I shrugged. "Doesn't matter. He'd still find some way to hurt me. He knew my parents Jewel, you heard him."

I noticed Skye looking at me, but his face was impassive so I couldn't tell if he was just staring off into space or not. He probably was, I mean why would he be looking at me?

Suddenly, another alarm went off and everyone scattered. I must have looked confused, because Jewel turned to me and said, "It's time for us to take some tests and then we fight Tanner, Willow, and Flint."

I nodded and followed her and Skye down the hall. We came to an elevator and Jewel pressed the button calling it. We waited for it in silence, either not knowing what to say or not wanting to talk.

Soon the elevator came and we stepped in. My ears were met by a faint sound. Elevator music? They actually put elevator music in the elevators. No one had done that for years. Talk about weird.

The elevator came to a stop and we got off. Immediately, my nose was hit with an antiseptic smell. Yeah, that was more like the School the way my parents had described it to me. First the crazy Director, second the plot to sell us to foreign countries, third good ol' ter Borcht, and last but not least, the antiseptic smell.

"So, where do we go now?" I asked, feeling a little nervous. I mean, wouldn't you if you had no idea what these crazy, sadistic lunatics were going to do to you and your new friends? Okay, so Skye being my friend was debatable, but still, that's not the point.

Jewel pointed to three chairs put up against a wall. "We sit here until they call us. Then we go with them and endure whatever they dish out. When they're finished we wait out here until all of us have been tested and then we're escorted outside."

Skye had already sank into the middle chair. Great, that meant I had to sit next to him. Jewel took the seat on the right, so I plopped into the one on the left. Skye didn't even acknowledge that I had sat next to him. He just stared at the wall, completely ignoring me.

I sighed. What else did I suspect? He hated me, for some unknown reason. Maybe it was just after Tanner and Willow he felt that he couldn't count on anyone except Jewel, so he was trying to get me to leave. Well, that wasn't going to happen. The way I saw it, there were only two ways I was going to get out of there: escape or join the Director. Even though the escape would take a while, there was no way I was going with the second option. As far as I was concerned, it wasn't really an option at all.

We were sitting there for so long that my leg had started to go numb. My butt was probably next. I shifted around in my seat, hoping to wake up my tingling leg. I hated that numb feeling. It was annoying and it hurt when I moved my leg.

Skye had turned to me, a quizzical look on his face. I shook my head, clearing out the thoughts I had been thinking about him, and he scowled at me and then turned his head back to the wall in front of him.

_Jerk. _I thought to myself. I had to will myself not to take a sideways glance at him. _Don't even think about it Mel. We've gone over this. Just take a deep breath._

The deep breath thing? Yeah, it didn't work. When I inhaled I caught his scent and my heart thundered and I got all lightheaded. It wasn't pleasant. I found myself actually hoping someone would come and take me to be tested on already. I couldn't sit there for a second longer.

Just then, a door swung open. A short, dark headed woman with a clipboard walked out. Without even glancing up she called, "4574574723 aka Melody."

Great, I had a number now. I got up and walked towards her. I kept my face expressionless. My mother had taught me that. "We had to give you a special number since you are not one of our experiments." she told me, like I was supposed to be proud or something. "We also have special tests for you. Okay, this way please."

She began walking and I followed, turning my head for a last fleeting look at Jewel and Skye. I felt a lump form in my throat and a pang of pain in my stomach. Whatever these 'special' tests were, I knew they were not going to be good.

_You can do it Mel. _I told myself. _Just be strong like Mom, Dad, and Max taught you. _I felt a sudden urge to cry, but I held back the tears. _Only babies cry._ I thought. At that moment, I would have given anything to be a baby, safe in my mother's arms.

**Okay guys, next time, we'll have Mel's tests. If you have any ideas for that, let me know. Remember her powers are minor healing, photographic memory, and super smart. Well, I suppose that's it for now. Uh, read and review. Check out Talon666's stories, 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline'. Peace out.**


	9. Tests and Trials

**Yo, sup guys? I know it's been a long time since I last updated and I'm really sorry about that. I had originally planned on doing this a lot sooner, but with all of the stuff going on at school and my life in general, I didn't really have time. I'm actually kind of shocked that I found some time to update at all. See, next week at school we have this standardized test called the WESTEST and I've been stressing over it a little. If we don't do good on the math portion we have to take an extra math class next year. Blah! So, as you can see, I've been pretty busy. I'm not exactly very good at math. I hate it and I can't do it very well. I make B's and C's. As for my life in general, well one of my best friends is having some guy problems. A guy a year ahead of us likes her and is on the tennis team with her. Unfortunately, one of our other friends knew a girl who got asked out by him while he was dating someone else. He's not a good guy, but she won't listen to us. She keeps talking to him and texting him and we're all really worried. Again, not good at all. Oh no, I'm starting to babble again. Why can't I stop? Well, I suppose that's all I have to say. Read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666. He supports me a whole lot, so I'm returning the favor. Okay, here we go with Chapter 8.**

I heaved a sigh. This was pointless. I had been sitting perfectly still with a blindfold over my eyes for almost an hour. It was part of a stupid test they had cooked up for my photographic memory. I had been given five minutes to memorize a room. I had then been blindfolded and left to sit in said room for an hour while some guy sat in front of me, making sure I didn't remove the blindfold.

Totally pointless. I had understood all of the other test they had made me do. Tests to check my health, tests for flying, tests for my healing powers, and tests to record my smarts. But this was stupid.

I heard the timer ring. Finally. I heard the guy get up to turn it off. He then walked over to me and said, "Describe the room for me Miss Smith."

I sighed. "There's a light fixture in the middle of the ceiling. It's just a plain glass dome. Behind me is the desk you were sitting at. It's dark grey and made out of metal. It has a dent in the side. A pretty big one."

I paused for a moment to catch my breath. I had said that stuff pretty fast. "The chair you were sitting in is plastic. It's orange and pretty dirty. The back has a square shape cut out of it. One of the legs is wobbly and another has been painted black."

"Anything else?" he asked me. "What about in front of you?"

I sighed again. "The walls are beige and the paint's peeling. There is a hole near the door where I'm guessing someone got angry and swung the door open hard causing the doorknob to hit the wall. The door is made out of metal and the same color as the desk. It has a small peephole."

"Uh huh." he said in a bored voice. "Anything else?"

"The wall in front of me has a clock. It's stopped working. It says that it's 7:54 and the second hand is stuck on 14. The clock is, like everything else here, grey." I took another pause. "The chair I'm sitting in is the same as the one behind the desk except that none of the legs are wobbly or spray painted black. The carpet on the floor is an ugly brown color and is badly stained. There's also a rip right under my chair." I sighed and then added, "I also counted the ceiling tiles. There are 117 of them. They are white with black spots and a corner of one is missing."

"Hmm." the whitecoat said. I heard him write something down and then my blindfold was removed. He examined it and when he could find nothing wrong with it, he let me go.

I went back in the hall and found Skye sitting in one of the chairs, looking bored and tired. His face was flushed and I wondered what they had made him do. He saw me coming and rolled his eyes.

I sank down in the chair next to him, not very happy about the situation myself. I had expected Jewel to be out here too. I had been tested for hours. I was worried about her. What could they be doing?

I sighed. There was only one way I was going to find out where Jewel was and what was going on with her.

I turned to Skye and asked, "Where's Jewel?"

He looked startled when he heard me speak to him. "Uh, they just came and got her about an hour ago. She could come out at any time now."

I nodded and turned to the wall in front of me. I was just going to stare at it until Jewel came out. I didn't want to have to talk to Skye again. I hated him getting all mad at me over nothing.

Several silent minutes passed by between Skye and me. The silence was killing me, but I didn't want to break it. I wished Jewel would come back soon. I thought I was going to crack and talk to Skye.

He was actually the one to crack and it surprised me.

"Hey, Mel." he said, trying to get my attention.

At first, I thought I hadn't heard right, but then he said it again, so I turned towards him. I wondered what he wanted. He didn't exactly seem like the chatty type, especially not to me.

"Yeah?" I asked, curious. Was he going to apologize to me? Was he going to explain why he had been so rude? If not, then what did he want? What did he have to say to me?

"Look, I don't like you and you don't like me. Right?" he asked.

For some reason, when he said that, I felt my heart sink all the way to my stomach. I felt sick, but I answered him anyway. "Right." I wondered what he was getting at.

"Well, I think we should just ignore each other until we," he lowered his voice, "get out of here." He paused and continued. "I think it'll make everyone happy. I can tell Jewel doesn't like all of the arguing. Once we get out of here we can go our separate ways. You'll never see me again and I'll never see you."

I crossed my arms and scowled. "Fine." I said huffily. "Sounds great to me. Just perfect." I jerked my head back towards the wall, hitting Skye in the face with my hair. I didn't feel sorry about it one bit. He deserved way worse.

I didn't know why I was so hurt about what he said. Shouldn't I be happy that I didn't have to talk to him and that he wouldn't be talking to me? There would be no more fighting and after we got out, I'd never have to deal with him again.

So why, at someplace deep inside me, did I wish that we could work or problem, whatever it was, out?

'_Cause you like him you dummy. _I thought to myself.

I stole a glance at him. He was looking in the opposite direction, unaware that I was looking at him. I turned back to the wall. It was true, I did like him. Why? That was the mystery. Why did I like someone who hated me so much. Maybe he didn't hate me. Maybe…

I heard someone walk up the hall and turned to see who it was. I saw a figure with super long, red hair come towards us. Finally, Jewel. I had never been so relieved to see her in my life. Of course, I had only known her for almost two days, but still.

I thought I heard Skye mutter, "Finally.", but I couldn't be sure.

When Jewel walked up to us I noticed she had a whitecoat following closely behind her. Jewel smiled at me when she saw me, but frowned when she saw they way me and Skye were sitting.

The whitecoat cleared his throat and Skye and I stood up. "This way." he said, motioning us to follow him.

I felt sick to my stomach again. I could tell this was not going to be fun. The only people I ever fought with were the flock and I swear they went easy on me. Well, I would have to learn sometime. Who knew, maybe I'd actually do good. And maybe pigs would fly. Well, they did make kids fly so anything was possible I guess.

**So, I hope you guys liked that. I worked really hard on this chapter for you guys. Yeah, it's a filler, but it's still good, right? Anyway, read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon 666. You guys will love these stories, I promise. Read and review. Updating soon. I promise.**


	10. Roll With The Punches

**Hiya guys! Sorry it's been a while. Like I said last update, I had this standardized test thing last week and after school I didn't feel like working on this story. My brain hurt too much to even think about writing. I hope you can forgive me. Since it's almost summer, I will be updating quicker than I have been lately. So, where did I leave you guys? Oh, right. Mel, Skye, and Jewel have just been taken to begin their fight with Tanner, Willow, and Flint. Should be exciting right? Well, I think that's enough of a wait. You're probably wishing I would shut up and get to the story already huh? Well, you're going to get your wish. I just have one thing to say first. Read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666. He's an awesome author and these are awesome stories. You'll love them if you love mine. Okay, now here's another chapter for 'In the Blink of an Eye'. Hope you enjoy it.**

I'm not going to bore you with details of our trek through the School. I saw some pretty sick things and made more mental notes for our escape. I think I had been in almost every room in the School at that point. No joke.

After about a forty mile walk down like 70 flights of stairs (again, no joke), we finally stopped at a big grey door.

The whitecoat jumped in between us and the door, making me oh so confused. He dug into the deep pocket of his lab coat and pulled out three shock collars. Shock collars? What the heck?

He snapped them on our necks and then pressed a button on a panel next to the door. Soon, the door swung open, no surprise there, and we stepped out into…blinding sunlight.

I couldn't believe it. Sunlight? They were letting us outside? It took my eyes a minute to adjust to the light, but when they did I saw why we were allowed outside. They had a huge electric fence surrounding a pretty huge area of land. Wouldn't want to fly into that.

I heard the door slam shut and began to wonder how they were supposed to watch us. What if we tried to escape? Then, I saw the security camera and remembered the shock collars. If they saw us flying too high, we'd get zapped. I'd have to be careful.

Looking across the yard, I saw three figures coming towards us. I recognized Tanner right off the bat. It was easy to see his dark wings against the bright blue sky. I could only assume the other two were Willow and Flint.

Willow was fairly tall, probably only an inch or two taller than I was. She had straight, shoulder length, caramel colored hair. Her bangs went straight down her forehead. She had sandy colored wings, probably thirteen or fourteen feet across. She wasn't wearing anything special, just a black t-shirt and a pair of jeans with grey tennis shoes.

Flint looked like he was about an inch or two shorter than I was. He had curly, dirty blonde hair. His wings were black with grey tips on both ends. They looked about twelve feet across. He was wearing a dark blue t-shirt and sweat pants. He also had on a pair of tennis shoes, but his were black.

I looked at Jewel and Skye. "So, what are we going to do?" I asked, feeling edgy. I didn't even want to think about how this fight would end.

Before they could answer, Tanner jumped in and answered for them. "There's nothing you can do, except get pounded." And with that, he ran straight for me.

Skye shoved me out of the way and I slid on pebbles on the hard, dry, cracked ground. When I stopped, I looked up. Skye was locked in combat with Tanner. Skye had helped me. He had actually helped me.

I must have been in deeper shock than I realized, because someone kicked me from behind and I fell over on the ground. I looked up again and Willow was holding me on the ground with her foot.

"So, you're Melody." she said, pressing her foot down on my back harder.

"Yeah, and I guess you're Willow." I said. I rolled over as fast as I could, causing her to fall on the ground. "Looks like you could use more lessons." I said, standing up, brushing the dirt off of my pants.

"You're gonna pay." she growled, spitting dirt out of her mouth.

The look on her face reminded me of Max, so I took a running leap and shot into the air as fast as I could. I went higher and higher, forgetting about the shock collar.

"Mel!" I heard Jewel yell from somewhere below me. I wondered what she wanted until the shock collar sent a jolt of electricity surging through my body. I fell a few feet before I realized I was going to end up splattered all over the ground if I didn't open my wings.

I snapped them open and sailed down to the ground towards Jewel.

"I tried to tell you that you were going too high." she said, dodging a punch from Flint.

I heard a loud grunting sound from behind me and saw Tanner and Skye wrestling on the ground. Skye had Tanner in a stranglehold, but Tanner was trying to bite down on Skye's arm.

"Mel! Watch out!" Jewel yelled. I whipped around just in time to see Willow run at me. Unfortunately, I didn't notice in time to dodge out of her way. She kicked me in my side, sending me flying through the air. I ended up sprawled out on the ground and in a lot of pain.

"Looks like you're the one who needs more lessons." she sneered.

I smirked and did a low spinning sweep kick, knocking her off her feet. I loomed over her and said, "No, still you.".

I was so excited when Max taught me that move and even more excited when I used it on Fang and he fell flat on his face. This felt so much better than that.

Before Willow could even get up, the intercom came on. "Inside. Now. All of you." a female voice said in a very annoyed tone. I assumed it was Dr. Mason, I mean who else would it be?

Jewel and I pulled Skye and Tanner off of each other. Tanner was nursing a bloody nose and Skye had a black eye.

"Next time you're dead Skye! Do you hear me?! Dead!" He spat blood out of his mouth and turned around. He stalked to the entrance and Flint and Willow followed him, both looking pretty beat up themselves.

"That was awesome." I said, breathing heavily. "I can't believe I did that. All of these years I thought the flock was going easy on me, but I can actually fight." I was thrilled. I felt… invigorated.

"I guess you did okay." Skye said, wiping dirt off of his pants. I took that as a compliment and beamed at him.

He coughed and ducked his head down, avoiding my eyes. I wondered what was up with that, but decided not to say anything. Maybe some dust got in his throat or something.

I took another look at our surroundings. It looked like we were in a desert. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the flaming hot sun was beating down mercilessly on us. We were probably somewhere like Texas, which would explain the whitecoat cowboy.

When Skye was over his coughing fit, I heard a faint beeping sound and Jewel's eyes went wide.

"We have to get inside now, before they shock us." she said, turning around a sprinting for the door. Me and Skye quickly followed her. Jewel pressed the button on the panel on the side of the door and it swung open.

The same whitecoat was standing there waiting for us, looking disappointed. As he was taking our shock collars off, I thought I heard him mutter to himself, "Lucky. They only had a few seconds before we were gonna shock them. They'd have been fried crispy."

I shuddered and tried to get that picture out of my head. Apparently I had been thinking to myself a little too long, because Jewel grabbed my arm and dragged me down the hall.

"It's six. We got out early this time. I guess Dr. Mason didn't like us beating on her little helpers." Jewel whispered. "We can go to our room and relax for a while."

I nodded and noticed a huge cut on Jewel's cheek. It looked painful. "I'll fix that cut for you." I whispered to her.

"How?" she asked, confused. I knew I told her my powers so I guess she had just forgotten. It was understandable with all that had happened between now and then.

"Remember, I have minor healing powers." I whispered back.

"But I thought you could only heal yourself." she said. "I didn't know you could heal other people too."

I nodded. "I didn't know I could either. When I was six years old, my mom moved a chair and forgot to tell my dad. He tripped over it and had this bruise on his cheek. I touched it and it just went away. Everyone was surprised, even more surprised when they found out I could heal myself. But that's another story." I said.

She pointed to Skye, who was walking ahead of us. "What about Skye? Think you can fix his eye?" she whispered so low that I had to strain to hear her.

I drew in a deep breath. "I couldn't tell you that. I've never tried to fix a black eye before. I could try, but I can't guarantee that I can do anything. It wouldn't hurt to try though." I said, causing her to grin.

"That'll work. Thanks Mel." she said, wrapping her arm around my shoulder in a half hug.

I hugged her back. In a way, I now thought of Jewel as my little sister. I wanted to help her all I could, even if that meant helping Skye. He had a soft spot for the girl, that much was obvious. He wasn't a jerk to Jewel. Maybe there was a little more to him than I thought.

Suddenly, a voice crackled on the intercom. I couldn't tell if it was male or female, but it said, "Experiment 4574574723 report to Dr. ter Borcht's office immediately. I repeat, Experiment 4574574723 report to Dr. ter Borcht's office immediately. Once again, Experiment 4574574723 report to Dr.-"

"I get it!" I yelled at the ceiling. Sheesh. "I heard you the first time!" I sighed. It was only a matter of time. I was beginning to wonder how many more of these lunatics I would have to meet before they got that I didn't want to join them.

"You better go." Jewel said. "His office is down a flight of stairs and at the end of the hall on the right. Good luck." she said to me as she hurried off after Skye.

I sighed, kicked the air in front of me, and walked down the hall and then down the flight of stairs. I took them two at a time so I could hurry up and get down to ter Borcht's office, pretend to listen to what he had to say, and then refuse and get dragged out of there.

I came to the hall, took a right, and walked to the end. I came to another grey door (surprise, surprise) and pressed a button on the door.

A voice came over the intercom. "Dis is Experiment 4574574723?"

I sighed. "Yeah." I said. I didn't really feel in the mood to give a witty and sarcastic remark.

"You may enter."

_Like I have a choice. _I thought as the door swung open.

**Well, that's that. It was sort of fillerish I guess. I mean, important stuff happened, but nothing too important. I hope you guys enjoyed it. It took me a while to write this and even longer to post it. Anyway read and review this story and check out 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666. Two very good stories by one very good author. Well, peace out. Updating soon. I promise.**


	11. Bruises

**Hey everyone. Time for another update. Before I get to that though, I have big news. I'm going to write two more stories. 'The Beginning of the End' is all about Dr. Charlotte Mullins. It begins with the day she runs away from home and, obviously, ends with her death. 'My Melody' is mostly a collection of one shots about Melody's childhood. Some stories will be continued, but not most of them. I may even make another one continued from this story. Okay, speaking of this story, I have something to tell you. I'm not going to be writing in ter Borcht's accent anymore. It's too difficult, especially for this chapter. You all know he's got that German accent, so pretend it's there. Alright, now that's all I will say about that stuff. Just read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666. As I have said countless times before, he is an amazing author. He supports me, so I return the favor. (He may say that he's the one returning the favor, but he's the better author.) Oh yeah, read 'My Life to the Max' by angelicreader6. She's just getting started, but I think it's pretty good so far. Ok, well here's that brand spanking new chapter that I promised. Enjoy!**

I slowly walked into the dark office. The only light was coming from a lamp on the table. I could see ter Borcht in the light. He looked more creepy than usual in the orange glow of the light.

I walked over to the desk and waited for him to look up. When he did, he said, "You may sit.".

"What if I don't want to sit?" I asked, scrounging up all the Max I could.

"Sit." he ordered.

I rolled my eyes and sat down in the chair across from his desk. "So, what am I here for? Are you gonna tell me to join the Director or that I'm making a mistake by following my parents? 'Cause if that's what this is all about, then you are wasting your time."

"I don't care if you join the Director or not." he said. I could've sworn I heard him mutter, "Not that she'll be in charge much longer." but I wasn't sure.

"Then why did you make me come down here?" This was just a waste of time. They didn't capture me to get to my parents or anything interesting. They captured me to make me work for them, which wasn't happening. They seriously needed a new hobby or something.

"Because, you share a room with the biggest trouble makers here. Everyone else is either too scared to do anything or works for the Director." he said through gritted teeth.

Someone obviously didn't like the Director. Or maybe it was her use of the experiments. Maybe ter Borcht didn't like it that she was giving a few of them so much freedom. He was probably afraid they'd turn and help Jewel and Skye.

"So, you want me to spy on them?" I asked.

"Yes, that's exactly what I want. They are too rebellious. I must break them, crush their spirits." he growled.

I stood up and leaned over the desk and stared right into his ugly face. "No. Never. I'm not helping the Director and I'm not helping you."

Before I had a chance to pull back, he slapped me across my face, hard. My face stung and I could feel tears getting ready to fall. I wouldn't, couldn't let them. If I did, I'd be letting the flock, and myself, down.

"Get out of my sight! Filthy creature! You're just like those failures!" ter Borcht shouted at me.

"Gladly." I said huffily and walked straight for the door.

"I'll be watching your every move. Remember that." he said before I even turned the knob.

_That did not sound good at all. _I thought, as I shut the door and began my walk back to my room.

Ter Borcht said he'd be watching me. I'd have to be careful. And did I really hear him say that the Director wouldn't be in charge much longer? What was that all about? Something told me that I really didn't want to find out.

I soon ended up at our room. I was surprised at how quickly I seemed to make it there. I didn't even notice the walk back.

I opened the door. Skye and Jewel turned around, their smiles immediately evaporated, and their jaws dropped.

I closed the door and sat down on my bed. They just kept staring at me, their mouths hanging open. I finally got a little irritated and asked, "What?".

"Your…your face. He… he hit …you?" she asked, stumbling over her words.

"Oh." I said, a little relieved. I put my hand to my face and closed my eyes, concentrating. "There. All gone. Didn't even hurt that much."

"That was cool!" Jewel said, beaming. "It just went away, like it was never even there."

I then remembered my promise to Jewel. "Hey Jewel, come here." I told her. "I'm gonna heal that cut. Like I promised."

"Oh, right. Thanks Mel." she said, walking over to me.

I put my hand on the long cut that went all the way down the side of her face. I closed my eyes and concentrated on making it disappear. After a few seconds, I opened my eyes and examined her face.

"There. Gone." I said.

"Woah." Skye said, coming to take a look. "I have to admit that's pretty cool."

"Yeah, and now it's your turn." Jewel said, hopping up and dragging him down next to me.

"My turn?" he asked. "What does she mean my turn?"

"Mel's going to see if she can fix your black eye. She promised me she'd try." Jewel said.

"What'd you mean 'try'?" he asked, sounding a little nervous. It made me want to laugh.

"I've never tried to heal a black eye before. Trying won't hurt you." I said. "Promise."

"Fine." he said, sitting closer.

I took a deep breath. _Keep calm Mel._ I thought to myself.

I placed my hand lightly on his eye. I was so close I could see the exact color of his eyes. They were a deep, dark blue, like the ocean. I took another breath and closed my eyes, concentrating harder than I ever had before.

After a minute of holding my breath and hoping, I opened my eyes. It was almost completely healed. There was just a light purplish bruise right under his eye.

"Skye! Mel did it! Sort of. It's still there, but you can't really see it anymore." Jewel said.

"Really?" Skye asked.

I nodded and then realized I still had my hand on his face. I brought it down and hoped I wasn't blushing. "You're welcome." I said, quietly.

Skye just nodded and walked over to his hammock. He climbed in and laid down.

I turned my head down to the floor, but kept my eyes on him. I thought I saw Jewel smile slyly out of the corner of my eyes, but when I looked up, she was staring at the floor like I had been moments ago.

I laid down on my bed, staring at the bottom of Jewel's mattress. I rubbed my eyes and sighed. I tried to forget about how I felt, but so far that hadn't been very successful. I tried reminding myself that he was a jerk, but then he did something sweet for Jewel or smiled or laughed, even though he was laughing at me.

"Mel? Mel?" Jewel asked.

"Huh?" I said, coming out of my trance.

"I asked you what happened down in ter Borcht's office. What'd he do to you? What'd he want?" Jewel asked, a gleam in her eyes, like she knew a secret. She was really starting to remind me of Angel.

"Oh, right." I said, sitting up. I ran my fingers through my hair. "Uh, well he made me sit down and then he said he wanted me to spy on you and Skye." I said, turning my eyes ever so slightly to Skye. I knew he was listening.

"Of course I said no and so he slapped me. He yelled at me and then told me he'd be watching me." I said, watching Skye relax out of the corner of my eye.

Jewel shook her head. "I hate him. He walks around pretending he's in charge. In a lot of ways, he's worse than the Director. He zaps you with that stupid electric cattle prod for no good reason."

I just nodded. I wasn't going to tell her what I thought I heard ter Borcht say. Why make her worry about something I wasn't even sure I heard him actually say? He might've said something else or maybe nothing at all.

"Mel? Mel?" Jewel asked.

I must've been thinking again. "What Jewel? Sorry. What were you saying? I wasn't paying attention."

"I know." she said. "I was just asking you if it was okay for us to go to sleep. I'm kind of tired and it's starting to get pretty late and you've had a long day too. I was thinking it'd be good for all of us to turn in a little early. Maybe it'll help you come up with a plan quicker if you're refreshed."

I had forgotten about coming up with a plan for leaving. I'd have to worry about that too. "Sure Jewel." I nodded. "Sounds good to me. I could do with a few z's." Boy was that an understatement.

She turned off the light and crawled into her bed. I pulled the cover over me and turned towards the wall and away from Skye.

"I can't wait 'till we get out of here." Jewel said. "It sucks here. I hate ter Borcht, I hate Dr. Mason, and I hate every stinking whitecoat here. They treat us like garbage." I thought I heard her sniffle.

"It's a hard knock life." I said, half to myself.

"You got that right." she sighed. "Well, night Mel."

"Night Jewel." I yawned.

That night, I kept thinking about what was going to happen to Skye and Jewel after we got out of there. I supposed Max and Fang would take them in. Maybe in a nice environment Skye would stop being a jerk and would maybe…

Maybe what? Fall in love with me? Yeah right. Well, they did make flying kids so anything was possible I supposed. But was that possible? No. It wasn't. It was just a dream. A fantasy.

I heard his snores fill the room. He was in a deep sleep.

_Wonder what he's dreaming about. _I found myself thinking.

_Not about me. That's for sure._

Ugh! Why was I tormenting myself? If he wanted to be a jerk and ignore me, then fine. I'd go back home and forget him. Maybe I'd listen to Felecia and ask Cory out. At least I knew he liked me.

_But I don't want Cory. I want Skye. _I thought.

_But you can't have him._

This was ridiculous. I needed sleep. I punched my pillow a few times and laid back down. I tried to think about something else. If I had heard ter Borcht right back down in his office then, what did he mean. Was he going to try to get rid of the Director? That was something to think about.

I knew I'd have to be careful while planning this escape since ter Borcht said he'd be watching my every move. He wasn't going to stop me from going home. I didn't care how long it took or how dangerous it would be. I was going to get back home.

The last thing I remember before falling asleep was rolling over and looking at Skye's sleeping figure and wondering, once again, what he dreamt of.

**Well, that's the end of another chapter. This chapter was brought to you by Talon666. He gave me the idea. Know how you can thank him? Read and review his stories 'Deadline' and 'NeoFlock'. You will love them. Trust me. Well, be on the lookout for another update to this story and the first chapters to my two new stories 'The Beginning of the End' and 'My Melody'. Catch ya'll later.**


	12. No News Is Good News, Right?

**Hello guys. I'm cured of my writer's block. I actually sat in my bedroom for an hour staring at a blank piece of paper when the idea hit me. Now, Selene Darkmoon gave me a very good idea, but I was already going to do that at a later time. Sorry Selene. It was still a good idea and you were the **_**ONLY **_**one to suggest anything, so I applaud you for trying. C'mon guys. What happened to my faithful reviewers? It went from six of you to three of you to one of you. I suppose it's just because it's summer and you all have things to do with your families. I understand. Like I told you, in about nine or ten days I'm going to the beach with my older sister and nephew, so it's cool. Just please come back soon. Alright, so back to the chapter. On this one we go to Elisabeth and Iggy. It's been a month since Mel was taken. Let's see how they're doing without her. Oh, before I forget, read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'My Life to the Max' by angelicreader6. All three are very good stories by two excellent authors. Trust me, you'll like them if you like this one. Just check them out for me. Maybe leave a review, something. Okay, well here we go. I hope you guys like this. I worked really hard and got several headaches with this one. All for you guys. Okay, enough guilt tripping. Enjoy! Hope ya'll are having an excellent summer.**

Elisabeth had woken up from her nap. She had fallen asleep on the couch earlier that day, too exhausted to go on. She hadn't had much sleep since Melody had been taken and it had finally gotten to her. Iggy had called the school and told them she was taking a sick day. Then he had asked Paul to cover for him at the restaurant. (He couldn't leave Elisabeth alone in her state.)

She sat up, stretched, and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She thought she heard the faint sound of water running upstairs. Iggy must have been taking a shower. That meant she'd have some time to…

She got up and walked to the refrigerator, quietly and slowly. She cautiously pulled the door open and stared, searching for something. She couldn't have hidden it so well that she couldn't remember where she put it, right?

_Right, the crisper. _She thought to herself, crouching down and pulling open the drawer. _How stupid of me. _She said, pulling out the bottle of beer she had hidden earlier. She had bought it, hoping she could get drunk enough to forget about her miserable life for a few hours. She didn't want Iggy to find it though. He'd find out later if everything went right.

She closed the door to the fridge and popped the lid off of the bottle. She tossed it in the trash can and sighed. It had come to this. After a month without her only child, it had come to this.

She pressed the bottle to her lips and sighed heavily again. She pulled the bottle away and dumped it all down the sink. What a waste of five bucks that she could've used for something important like toothpaste.

She put her hand to her forehead and, after a few moments of staring into the almost empty trash can, tossed it in and sighed as she heard it shatter.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and almost screamed in surprise. She turned around, coming face-to-face with Iggy. She clutched her hand to her heart and took several deep breaths, while he "looked" at her, slightly worried.

"Oh Iggy. You…you sc-scared me. I thought you were in the shower." she said, eyeing his dry clothes and hair.

"I was. I finished, dried my hair, and put on clean clothes. It's what any normal person would've done." he said. "You okay. Ya seem kinda…jumpy." he said, hopping onto the counter.

"Me? Jumpy?" she asked. "No. Everything's fine. Just got up from my nap and thought-"

"You'd have a beer." he interrupted. Before she could protest he said, "I heard you toss it in the garbage. Poured it down the sink huh? What a waste of five bucks."

Elisabeth stared at him for a second and then she finally broke down and cried. She dropped to her knees and started shaking and sobbing.

Iggy dropped to the ground and pulled her close to him. He hadn't meant to make her cry, but somehow he knew it wasn't really his fault. This had been a long time coming.

She couldn't take it anymore. She hadn't heard one _stinking_ thing. Not one word of good news. Not one sign. Not even something ridiculous in a tabloid magazine about mutants. Even that would have given the faintest hint of hope.

And then there was Sara Richards. She had been calling constantly. As Elisabeth sat there on the ground, crying her eyes out, she heard the phone ring and cried even harder.

"Perfect timing Sara." Iggy muttered darkly as he heard her faint voice leaving a message in another room.

Elisabeth took in deep shaky breaths, still sobbing. "I just…I…m-miss her. Nothing's…g-going right. What the _fuck _d-did I do to d-deserve…any of this?" she sniffled.

She coughed and sputtered, choking on her own spit, and Iggy patted her on her back. "Hey, hey now. We're going to get her back. We'll hear something soon." As if someone had been listening to him, the phone rang. He knew it wasn't Sara, she wouldn't call back for another hour at least.

He walked to the living room and picked up the phone, full of hope. "Hello?" he asked.

"Hey Ig, it's me." A voice said from the other end.

"Hey Max. You don't know how good it is to hear your voice." he said, walking into the kitchen.

Elisabeth had gotten up and leaned against the counter, a paper towel in hand, dabbing at the corners of her eyes. Iggy heard her blowing her nose.

"Ig? Ig? You still there?" Max asked.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry Max. Hey, you heard anything yet?" He crossed his fingers, metaphorically speaking of course.

"No. Nothing yet. Believe me Ig, we're trying. Fang's been researching, digging up articles from the newspaper, looking for anything that sounds even remotely like the School." Fang was a journalist for a big newspaper.

"I know, I know. Elisabeth's worried. That's all." He wasn't going to tell her how worried though.

"She dumped out another beer again didn't she?" Max asked, and Iggy began wondering if she'd developed mind reading abilities.

"How'd-"

"She's done it before. Called me just last week, crying her eyes out. Poor thing."

Iggy sighed. "Yeah, well she's okay now. So, why'd you call?"

"I just had a feeling something was wrong. Guess I was right."

"You always are." Iggy said, smiling. Had there ever been a time when she had been wrong. He'd have to think about that. But this wasn't the time for a montage. "Well, if that's all, I should probably get going."

"Right." Max said, her tone suggesting something. "Well, we'll let you know if we hear anything. Bye. Take care of yourself."

"Bye Max. Good talkin' to ya." He hung up the phone and placed it on the counter, walking over towards Elisabeth.

"I'm sorry Iggy." Elisabeth said, quietly. She sniffled again. "I just don't know…what else to do. What if she doesn't come back? What if she's hurt? What if she's…dead?" She grabbed him and put all her weight on him, unable to stand up on her own. "I can't take not knowing anymore."

Iggy wrapped his arms around her and pulled her as close as he possibly could, helping her stand upright. "Maybe it's a good thing that we haven't heard anything. You know that saying: "No news is good news", right? Maybe we haven't heard anything 'cause she's in hiding. Or maybe she's on her way here right now. Maybe she'll be here tonight or in a few days. We just don't know. We just gotta hope."

He cupped his hand under her chin and pulled it up. He ran his thumb under her eyes, wiping off her tears. He heard her sniffle again and then heard her sigh.

"Yeah. Maybe you're right. We just don't know anymore. She could be anywhere right now. What would I do without you Iggy?" she asked, drawing closer to him.

He noticed the closeness and responded by placing his lips gently on hers. He still had that sweet touch. Every time he kissed her she felt sixteen years younger. She still couldn't believe he was all hers. It still seemed surreal.

He pulled his lips off of hers, slowly. "Feel better?" he asked softly, brushing his fingers lightly against her cheek.

"Yes." she whispered, pressing her forehead against his, her eyes closed. All her stress seemed to melt away the moment he touched her. "I always do when you hold me like this."

"C'mon." he said, letting go of her and taking her hand. "Let's go sit down on the couch. Maybe watch a movie or something."

She nodded and let him lead her to the couch. She curled up beside him, placing her head on his shoulder.

He stroked her hair and absentmindedly flipped through channels. He came upon a movie that he liked well enough and asked, "Hey Elisabeth, this look good to you?". She didn't answer and he took that to mean that she had fallen asleep.

He smiled and kissed the top of her head. He turned down the volume on the movie because, if he remembered correctly, this one had a lot of explosions and he didn't want Elisabeth to wake up.

He 'watched' the first five minutes and then got angry. It was a stupid remake and not a very good one either. Why did they have to screw up good movies by redoing them? He sighed and switched the channel to some game show. He heard Elisabeth groan in her sleep and stroked her head again.

He knew he had only temporarily fixed her depression. If she didn't hear something soon she'd crack. Heck, if he didn't hear something soon he'd crack too. He wanted his baby girl back more than anything. However, if he knew Melody, they'd be wishing they'd never taken her.

_Come home Mel. I know you can do it. C'mon. Your momma and me want you back so bad. Come home. We miss you sweetie._

A few lone tears fell out of his eyes and he leaned on his sleeping wife, kissing the top of her head and praying his daughter was okay and on her way home.

_We'll keep the light on for you Melody. Always sweetie. I promise._

**Sorta emotional huh? Next chapter we go back to Mel. I'm going to try to get that chapter up before I go to the beach, but I can't guarantee anything. You know how moms can be right? I'll try my hardest though. If not, the day I get back you guys will have a brand spanking new chapter. I'm really gonna try to get this up next Wednesday. Keep your fingers crossed. Oh, if you hadn't noticed, since I put this chapter up I haven't started either of my new stories yet. I haven't decided when I'm going to start on those. I guess it just depends on what happens this summer and what you guys want. Well anyway, read and review this story and check out the stories I listed above. You'll love them. Trust me. I've never lied to you before have I? Okay, peace out. See ya'll later. **


	13. Way Freaky

**Hello good people of the world! How are you? Are you ready for another update? Good, 'cause that's exactly what you're getting. I hoped you enjoyed my last chapter. We went back to Elisabeth and Iggy. They'd had a month without Melody and weren't doing so great. Well, in this chapter we go to Melody. She's had an entire month at the School. Before we see what's been going on with her, I do have a couple of things to say. First, I won't be updating for awhile 'cause I'm leaving for the beach on Friday. Wish I had a laptop, but my dad's too cheap to get one. Second thing, big thanks to my _ONLY_****reviewer, as of now, Selene Darkmoon. This one's for you Selene! Okay, read and review 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'My Life to the Max' by angelicreader6. Three terrific stories by two terrific people. You will love them, please trust me on this one. They are my two of my biggest supporters, even though they are currently MIA, and I'm trying to help them out. Okay then, I suppose I better get on with the chapter for those of you kind enough to read this. I know I have tons of readers, but I have very little reviewers. As I said before, currently Selene Darkmoon's my only reviewer. I would love it if some of you readers became reviewers. It would make me very happy. You can criticize the story all you want. In fact, I'd love that. I would love to know what people think of my writing. I would loveto know what I need to improve on and what you guys like. I mean, I enjoy getting good reviews that tell me how awesome this story is, but you can still tell me my story is excellent and tell me what you think I need to work on. I promise I won't get mad. Not even if you say I have a bunch of mistakes or that you just don't like the story very much at all. You can even tell me you hate it, just review. Okay, well I'm done with this really long note. On with the chapter! Enjoy! **

The whole School was sitting outside in the blazing hot sun, watching Tanner, Willow, and Flint fly around, showing off for buyers and investors. We all had to watch which, in my opinion, was completely stupid and utterly pointless.

Once a month, scientists and other people from other countries came to the School to buy experiments. That's why we had to train all the time. This time we lost five experiments, including Stella, a three year old girl I had met a week earlier in testing and had taken a liking to. Afterwards, Tanner, Willow, and Flint put on a show. The Director thought it would be a showcase of what the other experiments could do after they were properly trained.

Everyone started clapping, so I looked down onto the field. They had just finished and were bowing. Everyone started filing out of the stands and I felt Jewel tap me on the arm. I stood up, stretched, and looked at her.

"We can go back to our rooms now." she said simply. I supposed she didn't feel up to much talking which was sort of unusual. I followed her and Skye out of the stands, ready to escape the crowd and the intense heat.

The second we stepped inside, I was met with a blast of refreshing, cold air. (The School had to have air conditioning.) I put my hand to my face and noticed that it was sweaty, sticky, and grimy.

I turned to Jewel. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom. I feel like crap and I think I have a sunburn on the back of my neck." I said, feeling my neck.

_Definitely_ _sunburned. _I thought, wincing.

"Okay." Jewel said, sounding rather glum. "See you back in the room."

I had just turned around when Jewel shouted. "Oh, Mel don't forget. We have to be in the training room in about a half hour."

I nodded. "Right. See you later." I swung a left and headed for the nearest bathroom. It didn't take a long time to find one. It was just three doors down on the right.

I walked into the bathroom, a much cooler breeze hit my sweaty face. The door slammed shut and I walked over to the sink and looked in the cracked mirror. I looked awful. My face was red, sweaty, and dirty (presumably from the occasional warm wind blowing around dust outside).

I turned on the faucet and splashed the cold water on my face. It felt so much better. I turned off the faucet, grabbed a handful of the cheap paper towels the School used, and wiped my face clean.

I took another look in the mirror. My face was still red, but I could fix that. I closed my eyes and concentrated hard on my sunburned face and neck. Several seconds later, I opened my eyes and the sunburns were gone.

"Much better." I muttered to myself. I then noticed that my throat was dry so I turned the faucet back on and cupped my hands. I brought the water up to my face and took a drink. The water trickled down my dry throat and I was relieved.

I turned the water back off and wiped my wet hands on my very dirty jeans. I couldn't wait until we escaped and I'd get to go home. Back to sunscreen, hot baths, my dad's delicious cooking, my comfortable bed, and clean clothes. I never realized how good a clean shirt made you feel until I came to the School.

Had it really only been a month? It seemed longer. It felt like an eternity since I'd had a good meal or a warm shower. At the School, all we ever got to eat were sandwiches and we had to take freezing cold, fifteen minute showers once a week.

I looked over my shoulder at the mirror one last time. I wondered if my mom had looked this bad when she was at the School.

_No. _I decided. She was strapped to a cold metal table day in and day out, only being let up to go to the bathroom and for testing. She didn't get the crud beat out of her on a daily basis.

With that thought in mind, I opened the door and started to make my way down the hall for training. I figured I had been in the bathroom for at least fifteen minutes. I needed to get down there so I would be on time.

I walked into the elevator at the end of the hall. I pushed the button that would take me to the basement. Just as the doors were closing, Tanner came into view. He got there just before the doors had fully closed and wrenched them apart, stepping in.

I rolled my eyes and thought, _Great, just what I needed. _

Tanner smiled at me and said, "Oh, hello Melody. Fancy meeting you here."

"Oh yeah." I said, as sarcastically as possible. "It's a real pleasure. A nice treat."

"Oh Melody. Don't be like that." he said, putting his hand on my shoulder.

I looked at the buttons on the elevator. Tanner had stopped it. Perfect. I was stuck in there until he was finished with me.

"What do you want?" I asked, throwing his arm off me.

He put his face close to mine. "I just want to know why you're wasting your time with Jewel and Skye. They're nothing but trouble."

I moved away from him. "I like them. They're my friends."

He came closer to me. "Really? Would real friends let you get hurt to protect them?" he asked, pulling the sleeve of my shirt up, revealing a pretty nasty burn I'd gotten from that electric cattle prod the other week. I tried to heal it, but it was useless.

I threw his arm off of me again, ignoring him.

"Would real friends hate you?" he whispered in my ear.

I backed away from him. "Jewel doesn't hate me." I answered back, truthfully, defiantly.

"Maybe she doesn't," he said, so close that I could feel his breath on the back of my neck, "but what about Skye? If he's your friend, then why does he hate you so much? Why do you want to be friends with someone like that?"

I didn't say anything. What could I say? It was true that Skye probably hated me. But I wasn't telling Tanner the reasons that I put up with Skye were because he cared about Jewel and because I thought he was cute.

"See?" he asked, still breathing on the back of my neck. "If I was you, I'd ditch them for people who would like me."

"Like who?" I asked, though I already knew his answer.

"Well, like me." he answered as I knew he would. "I like you…Mel." he said, using my nickname for the first time.

I couldn't tell if he was telling the truth or not, but either way, there was no way I was helping the Director.

Noticing my silence he said, "You can talk Jewel into it if you want. I know you really do like her. We'd be more than happy to let her join too." He wrapped his arms around my waist for added effect.

I couldn't believe what he was doing. He was trying to seduce me. What he didn't know was that he was failing miserably.

"C'mon Mel." he whispered in my ear. "Whadda ya say? I can show you things. Amazing things. Things you never dreamed of doing."

I'd had enough. I threw his arms off me and turned the elevator back on. "I say that there is no way I'm ever going to join you." I stared into his eyes, filled with anger. "And keep your hands off me." I added, just as the elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open.

I walked out and heard him shout, "You're on the losing side Melody! You just wait, you'll come crawling to me one of these days!"

I kept walking, not turning around. Part of me wanted to burst into tears. I was really afraid of Tanner now. I'd never been afraid of anything in my life, but I was terrified of him. But another stronger part of me knew that if I showed fear around Tanner, he'd make everything much worse.

I threw open the doors to the training room to find Skye doing one armed pushups and Jewel hitting a punching bag.

I stormed over to Jewel, grabbing the punching bag next to her. I began beating it as hard as I could, pretending it was Tanner.

Jewel stopped what she was doing and looked at me. "Mel, is something wrong? I've never seen you act like this."

I gave the punching back a good hard smack. "I ran into Tanner on the elevator."

At this piece of news, Skye stopped what he was doing so he could listen too.

"Know what happened?" I asked Jewel, who just shook her head. "He tried to get me to join the stupid Director again."

"How?" Jewel asked, looking nervous at my rage.

I took a deep breath, trying to remain perfectly calm. "He started saying bad stuff about the two of you. He said if he was me he'd hang out with people who actually like me."

Jewel stared open mouthed. "But I like you."

"I know Jewel. But Tanner knows how Skye sort of hates me." I noticed Skye's eyes avert down to the floor. He began his pushups again.

"But Skye doesn't hate you either." Jewel said, giving him a 'Look'.

I didn't say anything about that comment. "Anyway, then Tanner told me he liked me. I couldn't tell if he was lying or not."

Jewel had a thoughtful look on her face. "I suppose he could be telling the truth. You are really pretty. Right Skye?" she asked, giving him a 'Look' again.

Skye said nothing but kept going with his pushups. "Eighty-two." I thought I heard him mutter.

"Okay." I said, not sure how to take the weird way Jewel was acting. "So, he started calling me 'Mel' which freaked me out. He kept touching me and coming close to me and whispering in my ear." I shuddered just thinking about it.

"That is freaky." Jewel said, going back to her punching bag.

I gave mine another good, hard punch. "I've decided we're going tonight." I told them.

"We're escaping tonight?" Skye asked, saying the first words I'd heard him utter all day.

"Yeah." I answered. "The plan's really simple. I'll explain it in our room later. Max's plans weren't complicated either. Straightforward." I punched the punching bag harder.

"Sounds good to me." Jewel said. "I didn't figure it would be too complicated. Security's not very tight late at night."

"Right." I said. "Now, we better not talk about this until we're in our room. I know the security cameras don't have audio, but they can still read lips. We'll discuss it away from cameras, in our room."

Jewel and Skye nodded and we went back to training silently.

I could almost taste the sweet, sweet freedom. I had decided to stay with Jewel and Skye for one night to show them what they needed to know for survival. Then I'd be off, on my way home.

_Home._ I thought, smiling to myself. Back to my wonderfully crazy family. Back to explosions in the garage and Max beating up Fang and my dad for being idiots. Back to Angel reading everyone's minds and causing chaos. I couldn't wait to get home.

**So, will that tide you all over until I get back from the beach? I hope so. I also hope that I'll have tons of reviews when I get back. Anyway, read and review this story and check out 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'My Life to the Max' by angelicreader6. Hope you all are having an excellent summer. Oh, later on I'm thinking about putting up a Twilight story and a Harry Potter one. The Twilight one will be a story for Seth Clearwater and the Harry Potter one will be for the Weasley twins, leaning on a particular twin later in the story. Anyway, I'll see you all later. Fly on!**


	14. Sweet Escape

**Hey guys! I'm back from the beach. I don't have much of a tan though. Just my face and arms. But I saw dolphins, a shark, some stingrays, a jellyfish, and a hermit crab. It was a pretty good week I suppose. I missed writing though. I got your reviews and I just want to thank you all so much. You have no idea how much that meant to me. You are all totally awesome. Well, I have a little bit of bad news. My good buddy Talon666 might not be able to post anymore chapters on his two amazing stories, 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline', because his computer is messed up. I love his stories and I hope everything turns out ok. Maybe some reviews will cheer him up. Oh, and I just got an idea. Seeing as how I can't draw myself out of a brown paper bag, could you all draw some characters for me? You can draw any of the characters I made up or maybe a scene from one of my stories. The drawings can either be from 'With Wings Wide Open' or 'In the Blink of an Eye'. I'll post my favorite ones on my profile at the end of the summer. How does that sound? Winners get special recognition from me and I will start telling people to read your stories in these notes. Well, that's pretty much all I had to say on those subjects. Oh, wait. I might not be posting any chapters through the month of August. This will be due to band camp. This year we have to step up big time. I have to practice more than I did last year. You see, my schedule will be pretty wacky. Every week day for the first three weeks of August I have marching band practice from 8-12. Some days I have to stay until 2 for music rehearsal. I promise I will try my hardest to post new chapters during that time, but it'll be sort of difficult. I will try though, I really will. Anyway, I think you all have waited long enough for this chapter, so here you go. Hope you enjoy.**

"So go through this one more time." Skye told me, grabbing three sandwiches out of the mini fridge and tossing one at me and one at Jewel.

I shook my head and rolled my eyes as I opened my sandwich and took out the slice of tomato. The plan was the most simple thing in the world. How did he not understand it? I sighed heavily and began again. "Okay, here it is one more time. We are on the seventh floor. There are more rooms for the other experiments on the sixth and fifth floors. On the fourth floor is a fire escape at the end of the hall. Why aren't there fire escapes on the seventh, sixth, and fifth floors is a mystery to me."

"Probably 'cause they don't want us to get out of here." Skye muttered sarcastically.

I gave him an annoyed look and continued. "Anyway, there aren't any cameras on those three floors except in the doorways of the rooms. But, there are cameras on the fourth floor. Hopefully we'll be out before they notice."

"But that's three floors." Skye said. He was really starting to get on my nerves.

I looked surprised and clapped my hands. "Ooh very good Skye. You can count."

"Shut up." he said. "My point is, Princess, how will they not notice if they have us on camera?"

"Because we can run faster than normal humans. We'll be out of here before they can get on the elevator to get up there. Duh." I ignored the 'Princess' comment. Sexist jerk.

Jewel sighed heavily. I had almost forgotten she was in the room. I looked over to the top bunk and saw her braiding her long hair, looking extremely annoyed with me and Skye.

"Okay, so what happens after we get out of here?" he asked, tossing the little plastic baggie away in the garbage. He brushed the crumbs off his shirt and sat back down in his hammock.

"Well, I was thinking we'd spend a night in the woods so I can teach you guys some survival stuff and then I'd go home later in the day. Then you guys would be on your own." I tossed my baggie, with the tomato inside, in the trash can.

"Oh, how kind of you." Skye said sarcastically. "Look Princess we don't need your help. So thanks, but no thanks."

"Oh, so you don't need me hmm?" I asked. "So, you know how to start a fire with nothing but two sticks and some kindling? You know CPR and other first aid stuff? If Jewel should break her leg then you'd know what to do? You can hunt food?" I stopped and folded my arms.

Skye looked flabbergasted, like he couldn't believe I could do all of that stuff. "No, but we still don't need you."

"I don't care if you don't think you need me 'cause you do." I wasn't going to leave them until I was sure Skye could handle taking care of Jewel if anything bad should happen.

That was when Skye and I got into a shouting match. He started yelling at me about being able to take care of Jewel just fine. I shouted at him that there was no way he could take care of Jewel if they froze to death without a fire.

We kept arguing until Jewel finally shouted, "Knock it off!".

We stopped fighting and turned to stare at her. I'd never heard her shout before and, apparently, neither had Skye. She was giving us a death glare that would even have given Max the chills.

"I hate you guys fighting all of the time. Skye, Mel's right. We do need her to help. You guys haven't gotten along since you met each other. We only have a couple days left to be together. Then Mel's going home." She began to get all misty eyed and I had to look at the floor, feeling ashamed.

"Sorry Jewel." Skye muttered quietly.

"Yeah Jewel. I'm really sorry too. You're right." I said, looking back up at her. I, like my mother and uncle, didn't like to admit that I was wrong, but when I was, I would admit it.

"It's okay." she said, giving a little smile to reassure us. "It's just that I hate seeing you fight when you obviously…never mind." she said, sitting up straighter. She had a look on her face that Angel did whenever she almost let something slip. It had me confused and Skye too, judging from the expression on his face.

"Riiight." I said, drawing the word out. "Well, we better get out of here."

Jewel nodded and climbed off the bed., Skye flipped off the light, and I carefully pulled open the door. I looked up and down the hallway and gave them a thumbs up. The coast was clear.

We slipped out of the room and I softly shut the door. I put my finger to my lips and we began tip toeing down the hall.

My heart was pounding. I was silently praying that we wouldn't be caught because if we were, then we would be worse than dead.

We carefully made it down the stairs and onto the sixth floor. So far, so good. We made it to the end of the hall and walked down the stairs again. Fifth floor.

"We have to be really careful." Jewel whispered to me. "Tanner, Willow, and Flint live on this floor." She had a horrified look on her face.

I put my finger to my lips and nodded. I knew they lived on this floor, right in the middle of the hall. We silently crept down the hall, holding our breaths. We made it past Tanner's door.

Unfortunately, that's as far as we made it before being caught. I had turned my head to look at the door, making sure we hadn't disturbed them, when I bumped into Skye, causing him to fall.

We laid on the floor for a second, trying not to breath, before we decided no one heard us and got up. I couldn't believe we had gotten out of that one.

But, after we took two steps, Jewel sneezed and the door flew open. Tanner looked livid as he stared at us for a few seconds. We didn't move a muscle. He stuck his hand in his room and a siren went off.

"We have an escape on our hands!" Tanner shouted into the room.

"THIS AREA IS ON LOCKDOWN!" The security system blared.

I heard snapping as all the doors locked simultaneously. We were in trouble now.

I turned to Jewel who looked so upset. "Sorry Mel." she said, but I barely heard her over the noise.

I was panicking. What was I going to do? I heard whitecoats thundering up the stairs. I turned my head from Skye to Jewel to Tanner.

_Keep it together Mel. _I told myself. _WWMD: What Would Max Do? _And then an idea hit me.

"Don't just stand there!" I shouted to Jewel and Skye. "Run! Head for the stairs! We can still make it!"

I bolted and they followed right behind me. We made it to the stairwell before I heard Tanner shout, "Come on you idiots! They're getting away!".

"Hurry!" I yelled as I took the stairs two at a time. Jewel followed me, but Skye jumped from the banister and landed on the next floor.

"Crap! The door's locked!" he shouted as I came up behind him.

"We have to ram it down." I said, thinking quickly. I heard ter Borcht shout from upstairs "Well which way did they go?".

"Ram it down?" Skye asked incredulously. "With what?"

I mentally slapped myself. "Never mind. I have another idea." I said, digging into my pocket.

Jewel looked at me horror stricken. "They're almost here."

I pulled out a bobby pin. "Perfect." I breathed. My dad was a master lock picker and had passed his talent down to me. I stuck the bobby pin in the door, trying to jimmy the lock as fast as I could.

"What're you doing?" Skye asked me.

I turned my head towards him. "I'm trying to save our butts by picking this lock. Now, if you don't mind, shut up!" I am usually a pretty calm person, but Skye wasn't helping ease the pressure I was under.

I turned back to the lock, my heart beating faster as I heard ter Borcht run down the hall.

I almost had the lock when Jewel shrieked. "Mel! Hurry!"

"I found them!" I heard Willow shout from above just as I heard the lock click.

"Got it!" I yelled, throwing open the door. I bolted through, Jewel and Skye right on my heels with Willow and ter Borcht on theirs.

I ran as fast as I could for the fire escape. I could see the huge red door with red lights glowing above it.

"Faster Jewel!" I heard Skye yell from directly behind me.

I turned my head to see Jewel way behind us with Willow closing in on her. That's when I did something Max would've done, something that would either turn out to be the most heroic thing anyone had ever seen, or the most bone headed move that put everyone's lives in jeopardy. I ran as fast as I could towards Jewel, risking my freedom, risking ever going home, and possibly risking my life.

Skye kept going straight for the door. I couldn't believe it. He was just going to leave me and Jewel. As I took Jewel's hand and turned around, I heard Skye wrench open the door and used every ounce of energy in me to run as fast as I could, dragging Jewel with me. There was no way he was leaving us.

"Come on!" he shouted, waving his arms at the now open door.

Wait. What? I thought he was leaving us, but he was actually helping. I was thunderstruck. I truly didn't give Skye enough credit.

"Hurry up Princess! This is no time for your slow running!" And then again…

"Slow my butt!" I shouted, turning on the speed. I felt someone make a grab at my wings and Jewel shrieked. I ran faster. My heart was pumping fast and my lungs screamed for oxygen. My legs ached, wanting to slow down, but I had to keep going. There was no way they were getting me.

We made it to the door and I shoved Jewel through the doorway. "Go!" I shouted at her. "Start flying!"

She nodded and jumped out of the door, unfurling her wings. "What about you?" she asked, frightened.

"Go!" I yelled. She jetted higher in the air, still looking scared, but not questioning me.

I turned to Skye. If this had been a movie, this would've been the part where I told him I loved him, he admitted he loved me too, and he kissed me. Then I'd shove him out the door and he'd say something mushy like, "I can't leave without you." and I'd make him and then get captured.

But this wasn't a movie, so he just jumped out of the door without saying a word to me and flew after Jewel.

I turned around and saw ter Borcht, right on top of me. He made a grab for me, but I fell backwards out of the doorway. I heard him curse and started flapping my wings. I pulled up as hard as I could and made it to where Jewel and Skye were hovering.

I looked down at the door and saw ter Borcht shouting at Tanner and Willow. I couldn't help but laugh. Jewel started in too, but Skye just stared at them hatefully.

"Why aren't Tanner and Willow flying out of there and coming after us?" he asked.

I shrugged and started flying straight ahead. Jewel fell in behind me and Skye flew below us.

"Maybe the whitecoats don't want them too because they think they won't come back. Maybe they think they'll help us." Jewel said.

I couldn't help thinking that it was something entirely different, but I didn't want to say anything. Besides, I didn't know what else it could be nor did I want to find out.

I adjusted my direction a hair and then kept going straight. Home was just a day and a few hours away. I took in a deep breath, sucking in the fresh air, the freedom. It tasted just as sweet as I dreamed.

**Well, was that escape up to my amazing standards? I hope so, 'cause I worked really hard on that chapter. I'd been thinking on how to do this chapter since I started the story really. Okay, well I should have another chapter up by next Wednesday. Read and review and please check out my friend Talon666's stories. Please guys. Well, updating in a week. Catch ya'll later. **


	15. Survival 101

**Hey everyone! Hope you had a great 4th**** of July. Mine was pretty good. Now, before I get on to this chapter, I have some stuff to say to you guys. First, I still want you guys to draw characters from my stories. The rules are, it has to be a character that I made up or a scene from one of my stories. Wings or no wings, it's up to you, whichever is easier for you guys. Okay, I would also like ya'll to read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666, 'Of the Night' by Sonya Rivers, and 'Dark Blue' by Madeline Cullen. They are awesome stories by awesome reviewers. I also want to thank you three a lot. You give me the most reviews and make me feel awesome. Okay, now I have some story news. If you all will check out my profile, I have summaries for the new stories I will start posting soon. There are two Maximum Ride ones, a Twilight one, and a Harry Potter one. After you read all of the summaries, you can vote in my poll and choose which one you want me to post first. Okay, enough of that. You guys are probably ready to read my new chapter, so here it is. Hope you like it.**

After two hours of flying in the dark, I noticed Jewel was losing altitude. I looked over my shoulder at her and noticed that her eyes were drooping and that she was yawning. I decided it was time to land for the night.

I signaled to Jewel and Skye to start descending. I figured we were far enough away from the School and what better place to hide than in the woods.

Once on the ground, I started thinking up things we needed for survival.

"So, Madame Know-It-All," Skye began, "what's first?" He folded his arms, expectantly, and waited for me to start.

"First, we need to make a fire." I said. "Fires scare away animals, keep people warm, and can be used to cook food." I crouched down on the ground and picked up anything I could find to burn.

"Okay, now to make the fire." I said, reaching my hand into my pocket.

"So, how do we do that?" Jewel asked, stifling a yawn.

I smiled, pulling a lighter out of my pocket. I tried not to laugh at the expression on Skye's face.

"But…but…where did you get that?" he asked, dumbstruck. "How?"

I chuckled and said, "Nicked it during testing. Those whitecoats really need to learn not to leave their cigarettes and lighters lying on tables where any genetic hybrid who was planning an escape could get them." Idiots.

Jewel started laughing. "Nice one Mel." she said as I started the fire. She tucked her hair behind her ears and made a face. "Stupid hair."

"Want me to cut it?" I asked, dragging a couple of logs and a rock around the fire so we'd have some place to sit. "Here Skye." I added, tossing him the lighter. "You'll need that later."

"How are you going to cut it?" Jewel asked me, sitting down on the log.

"Yeah. How?" Skye asked, pocketing the lighter and looking at me suspiciously.

I pulled a pair of scissors out of my pocket. "With scissors. How else?" I asked, standing behind Jewel. "So?" I asked, picking up her hair. "How short? To your ears?"

Jewel nodded and I began cutting. I tried to make it as straight as I could and I don't think I did half bad.

"There." I announced holding up her hair. "Feel better?" I asked Jewel.

She nodded then gestured to her hair. "What're you going to do with that?" She began playing with her new shorter hair. "It feels so weird." she mumbled to herself.

"Toss it in the fire." I said, shrugging. "What else can I do with all of this hair?"

"Heck no." Skye said, wrinkling his nose. "Do you have any idea what burnt hair smells like?"

"Okay, so what do you suggest we do with it?" I asked. _Since you know everything. _I added in my head.

"Just toss it somewhere." he said simply.

"And that's why I don't listen to you." I said, throwing Jewel's hair in the fire.

Skye made a face as the hair started to burn. "Great. Now I can't breathe."

"Oh cry me a river. Just breathe through your mouth." I said, disgusted with him. "Now, Jewel are you hungry?"

"Yeah, but what're we having?" Jewel asked.

"You didn't steal a turkey and stuff it in your pocket did you?" Skye asked me, causing me to roll my eyes.

"No. I saw a lake not too far from here. One of the reasons I decided to land." I said, spreading my wings. "I'll be back with dinner. Make sure to keep the fire going. You might want to find some more firewood."

Jewel nodded. "Sure Mel. We'll get right on it."

I nodded, knowing that Jewel could handle it. I took off, in search of some food, some real food.

It only took me five minutes to get to the lake. I descended on the bank and pulled off my shoes and socks. I rolled up my pants; I was going fishing. I waded in the water and bent over, waiting for a fish to come by.

It didn't take long and soon I was on my way back to our camp with a nice fish. I couldn't wait to see the look on Skye's face when he saw what I caught. His eyes were going to pop out of his face.

I landed a few feet away and hid the fish behind my back. I walked up to Skye and Jewel, who had their backs turned, and cleared my throat.

They both turned around and Skye smirked. "I knew you couldn't get food."

Jewel looked slightly disappointed, so I said, "Oh yeah Mr. Skeptical." and shoved the fish right under his nose.

He backed up quickly. "What is that?" he asked, surprised and I had to suppress a laugh.

"What?" I asked. "Are you scared of a little fish Skye?" I smirked, probably looking like my mom and Fang. It was uncanny the way I could do that.

"We're supposed to eat that?" he asked, over top of Jewel laughing her head off. "You can't be serious. That's disgusting. There is no way I'm eating that. It still has eyes." He threw more wood on the fire and sat down.

"What happened to 'We can't afford to be picky here Princess.'?" I asked, pulling a pocket knife out of my pants.

"Shut up." he muttered. "What're you going to do with that?" he asked, motioning towards the knife.

"Well, this is a knife and I'm going to chop off the fish's head and then gut and cook it so we can eat." I sat down and began my work while Skye started gagging and Jewel laughed at him.

Soon I had the fish clean, fried, and ready to eat. "Well, dig in. This is all we're getting 'till tomorrow." I took a bite of fish. Not as good as my dad's, but it was still pretty good.

Skye made a disgusted face but ate the fish anyways. I noticed a slight change in his facial expression as he scarfed down the meal as fast as he could. He seemed to actually like it.

Jewel had a look of delight on her face. "Mmm Mel, this is delicious."

"Thanks." I said, smiling at her. "I try." I finished my fish and wiped my hands on my pants. "It was pretty easy to catch. You just have to wade in the water, bend down, wait for a fish to come, and grab it."

"I don't know how we'll do this stuff without you." Jewel said, moving beside me. She sighed heavily, sounding pathetic.

"I think we'll manage somehow Jewel." Skye said, burping rather loudly.

"You're not helping." Jewel said, staring daggers at Skye. "Mel, please stay. We need you. There is no way Skye can do all of this…by himself. Besides, we don't know how to survive out here. You were brought up by the legendary Flock. You have to stay." she begged me, giving me Bambi eyes. I wondered where she learned that from.

I couldn't resist the Bambi eyes. They were just too powerful. "Well, I don't know." I looked at Skye, who was just looking at the ground, uninterested. "I really miss my parents and the rest of my family. On the other hand, it's nice to have friends who actually care."

"Come on Mel. Please." Jewel begged. "We really do need you. Maybe we can just take a slower trip to your house. You know, make some stops." She made Bambi eyes at me again.

I sighed. "Well, I guess you guys do need a leader."

Jewel glommed onto me. "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" she squealed. "Mel, you're the best!"

"Hold up." Skye said, getting into the conversation. "Who died and made you leader?" he asked. "Why can't I be leader?"

I folded my arms. "Two reasons. One: You weren't raised by the flock and don't know the first thing about surviving. Second: You'd have to gut and cook the fish next time and every other time."

He looked at me for a second and threw up his hands. "Fine. You're leader. Happy? So, what do we do about sleeping?"

"Since it's really late, we'll only have two watches." I said, getting into Max mode. I had to think about what we were going to be doing until we got to my house.

"Watches?" Skye asked.

"Yeah. We have to have watches, otherwise anything could happen." I said. "The School could find us and capture us all while we're asleep."

"Speaking of which," Jewel said, sounding worried, "something's been bugging me. Why didn't Willow and Tanner chase us down? Why'd they just let us go?"

I had been thinking about that. Ter Borcht had been mad when I got away, but something had made him even madder. He had been shouting at Tanner and Willow and I thought I heard him say something about the Director.

"Oh no." I whispered, coming to a realization.

"What?" Jewel asked. "Did you figure something out Mel? What is it?"

"Tanner and Willow didn't chase us, because the Director told them not to." I told them.

Skye looked at me, skeptically. "That makes no sense. Why would she tell them to let us go?"

That was the part that frightened me the most. I breathed heavily. "She wants them to hunt us. It's to test them and us. She wants to see how much we can endure. Her mother did it to Max and the rest of my family. It's like a game to her." I explained.

Jewel gasped and Skye frowned. "Are you sure?" he asked, sounding…scared.

"Uh, yeah kinda. It's the only thing that makes any sense."

We remained silent for a few minutes before I decided to speak again. "Uh, Jewel you should probably get some sleep." She nodded and laid down on the ground, close to the fire.

I turned to Skye. "Uh, I'll take first watch. Set your watch for three in the morning ok." He nodded and laid down near Jewel.

I stayed in my seat on one of the rocks and stared into the fire. I had a long night ahead of me. There was no way I could go home now. I'd put my family in danger, but how was I going to tell them?

**So, did you guys like that chapter? In the next one, it's the next morning and Mel is in for a small surprise. I will say nothing more. Okay, like I said above, I still want you guys to draw my characters or a scene from one of my stories. Also, check out the summaries of my new stories on my profile and vote for the story you want me to start next. Read and review this story and check out the other stories I mentioned above. Bye-bye.**


	16. Something Fishy

**Hello good people of Earth, Jupiter, and Wisconsin. Sorry, I think I've been watching a little too much iCarly lately. Okay, so I hope you guys are up for a new chapter. I'm actually on time for once. According to my brother, this is the sign of the apocalypse. Needless to say I just kicked him. In case you all don't know, I posted my new Twilight story. It's called 'Solar Flare' and is all about Seth Clearwater, my favorite werewolf (or shape shifter, whichever you prefer), and his imprint, Erin Morgan. You Twilight fans should definitely check it out. I guarantee you will like it a lot. I have the first two chapters up and I'm also updating it today. Ok, now thanks to my good friend Madeline Cullen, I got an awesome idea. I'm thinking about making a profile for Melody on max - dan - wiz - .com. What do you guys think? I just need someone to draw a picture of her or find a picture that looks like her for the profile. Which brings me to another thing, I still want you all to draw pictures for my fanfiction. This also applies to my new Twilight fanfic. So far, I have gotten one awesome drawing of Elisabeth from Madeline Cullen. Come on guys, Mel, Skye, Jewel, and my other characters would love pictures. I'm pretty sure Iggy would love a couple pictures of scenes with him and Elisabeth from 'With Wings Wide Open'. Well, you have until August before I put all the one's I get. Yeah, I decided to drop the contest. Just draw a character or a scene, send it to me, and then on the last day of my summer vacation I'll post all the pictures on my profile. Just keep that all in mind. There's one last thing I want to say before I get on to the new chapter. I just want to thank my awesome, faithful reviewers. You all know who you are. If it wasn't for you guys, I would've quit a long time ago. Well, that's all I needed to say, so let's get on with the chapter.**

I awoke to a sharp pain in my back. I opened my bleary eyes and pulled out the root that was digging into my spine. It was just starting to get light out, so I sat up. I glanced at my watch, yawning as I did so. It was five in the morning. I groaned. Even in the middle of nowhere I was up too early.

I unwillingly wiped the sleep out of my eyes and looked around. Jewel was stirring, probably getting ready to wake up. The fire was still going which explained why I wasn't cold. My gaze shifted to the spot where I had left Skye just two hours earlier. He wasn't there.

Panic stricken, I rushed over to Jewel and tried to wake her. "Jewel! Jewel!" I shouted, shaking her.

"Wassa matta?" she asked sleepily, cracking open her eyes. "We under attack?" she yawned, sitting up.

"No, but Skye's missing." I said, trying to hide the panic in my voice. Jewel's eyes went wide and she sat rigidly.

I couldn't believe they just took him. I couldn't believe they hadn't taken me and Jewel too. It was kind of weird, fishy.

"What're we going to do?" she asked, looking on the verge of tears. Her voice was really shaky and I knew I had to do something to comfort her, no matter how suspicious Skye's disappearance was.

I pulled Jewel close to me, wrapping her in a hug. "I don't know sweetie. We have to go get him, that's for sure." If we got to Skye before something bad happened I'd tell him exactly how I felt about him. That is, if something had happened to him at all.

"What if he's just walking around? Maybe he heard something and just went to check it out." Jewel said hopefully, wiping tears from her bright green eyes.

I didn't think that was where he was, but I didn't want Jewel to worry. "You might be right. Let's try calling for him." I said, not really expecting him to answer.

We began calling for him. "Skye! Skye! Where are you?! Skye!" I didn't think it was working. He probably would have heard us and came running if he hadn't been taken. But…

"Someone looking for me?" said a voice behind me. I whipped my head around and there was Skye carrying two bags of food from McDonald's. He left us alone so he could go off and get fast food! And to think I wanted to tell how I felt about him. Idiot. What had I been thinking?

"Skye!" Jewel shouted gleefully. She hopped up, ran to him, and almost knocked him over when she tackled him into a hug. "We thought something awful happened to you."

He managed to peel Jewel off of him and made his way over to me. "Were you worried about me or something Princess?" he asked, smirking.

"Yeah." I said out loud without meaning to. "But only because I thought either you'd been kidnapped, in which case Jewel and I would've had to run for it, or that you were a bad guy, in which case Jewel and I still would have to run for it." I added quickly.

"Sure." he said, still smirking. "Whatever you say." There was something in his eyes, a gleam or something. It made me feel something that I couldn't describe to you even if I tried.

He sat down in front of me and tossed me a McGriddle. I began peeling off the wrapper when I realized something.

"Hey, how'd you get this? Did you rob McDonald's?" I took a small bite and stared at him.

He tossed another McGriddle to Jewel and dug in the bag, pulling out his own. "No, I bought them." he said, taking a huge bite out of his breakfast.

I swallowed and, with an eyebrow raised, asked, "With what money?"

Skye inhaled the rest of his McGriddle, but didn't respond. Instead he got out another McGriddle and started eating it.

"With what money?" I asked again, firmly. I was now totally suspicious.

"Money I found in the street." he said, after swallowing a particularly large bite of sandwich. He then let out an extremely loud, disgusting burp and I was reminded of the Gasman.

"Money you found in the street?" I asked, still suspicious. I wasn't buying it. You just didn't find a bunch of money lying in the street. And why'd he go into town anyways? I told him how to catch fish. Why'd he go out to McDonald's without any money? And then he just happened to find some in the street? Highly suspicious.

"Okay, so I'm a pickpocket. Sue me." he said, throwing his wrappers into the bag and wiping his mouth off with the sleeve of his shirt.

Okay, so now his reason for going to McDonald's for breakfast made sense. He knew he could get money to pay for the food.

"How much money did you steal?" I asked, looking at Jewel who was eyeing us closely from her seat on a rock next to Skye. Hopefully a fight wouldn't break out. I didn't want Jewel upset again.

He made a little coughing noise and then said, "Fifty bucks."

"Fifty dollars!" I shouted incredulously. "All from the same person?!"

He rolled his eyes. "Of course not all from the same person. Whadda ya think I'm stupid or something?"

I threw a rock which narrowly missed his big, thick head. "Of course I think you're stupid! How could you steal from people?!"

"I thought you'd be thanking me for getting breakfast." he said, looking angry. "'Sides Princess, you stole a lighter, a pair of scissors, and a pocketknife from the School. So you have no right to yell at me."

"Yeah, I stole. From the School. Not from innocent people." And I was in love with this guy? Well, I was in love with his looks at least. His personality I could live without.

Jewel was looking at us nervously and I could tell what she was thinking. "Don't worry Jewel. It's not a fight. It's just a… creative discussion."

Skye snorted. "A creative discussion? Who're you trying to kid Princess? It's pretty obvious that this is a fight."

"Oh shut up…Sticky Fingers." I said, sticking my tongue out at him.

"Sticky Fingers?" he asked, trying to suppress a laugh.

"That's right. You call me Princess so I'm calling you Sticky Fingers." I stated. Told you two could play at his game.

"That's the best you could come up with?"

I ignored him. I had more important things to worry about, like how I was supposed to tell my parents that I was alright but that I couldn't come home. I didn't know how to contact them, if I should even try, or what I would say. I mean, how do you tell your parents you can't ever come home?

"Hey Mel?" Jewel asked me, breaking me away from my thoughts.

"Yeah Jewel? What is it?" I asked, wiping my hands on my pants. I really wished Skye had gotten napkins.

"Uh… how are we supposed to go to the bathroom out here? I gotta go really bad." she added, wincing.

Uh oh. Awkward conversation with Skye sitting right there. "Uh… well… um… you sort of… uh dig a hole in the ground and then kinda… go… and… uh then you… cover the hole up with the dirt you dug up."

Jewel had a look of disgust on her face. "Do I dare ask about toilet paper?"

"Leaves." I answered, receiving a groan from Jewel and a snort from Skye.

"Uh okay, if you don't wanna do that, we could always fly to a gas station." I figured I could find a payphone and call my parents from there. "Besides, we should probably be leaving soon anyways." I added.

"How long will I have to wait?" Jewel asked, her face clearly stated how urgent her emergency was.

"About ten minutes if we leave now." I told her.

She nodded so I doused the fire. I checked my watch one more time. It was 5:48, my parents wouldn't be up but this was probably going to be my only chance to call them. I wasn't all too sure it was a good idea, but I couldn't let them continue worrying about me.

We took off and exactly seven minutes later we landed a little ways away from a gas station. We ran the rest of the way and Jewel headed straight for the bathroom. I spotted a payphone outside so I pulled Skye over.

"What?" he asked, looking irritated. "Gonna tell me not to rob anyone?"

"I should." I said in an icy tone. "But you're lucky. I just want a dollar in change. Four quarters. That's all."

"Why?" he asked, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. A gust of wind blew his white blonde hair, which was dusted with dirt, causing him to look so hot that he made me weak at the knees.

"Uh…" I almost forgot what we were talking about for a second. I shook my head, clearing my thoughts. "Just fork it over already." I extended my hand and he fished four quarters out of his pocket. He dropped them in my hand and walked towards the gas station.

"And you think I'm a spy." I heard him mutter as he walked away.

So he thought I was working for the Director. Was that why he was so mean to me? Oh well, no time to dwell on that. I needed to call my parents.

I walked over to the payphone and stuck a quarter in the slot. I dialed the house phone and waited for my parents to answer.

_Please answer. _I thought, tears stinging the corners of my eyes. _I need you to answer. _

**So, did you guys like that chapter? I really hope so, 'cause I worked my butt off on it. Anyway, keep reading and reviewing this story and all you Twilight fans need to check out my new story 'Solar Flare'. Please leave me some long reviews on both of my stories. Can you guys hold on 'till next Wednesday? Well, you're going to have to because that's when I'll be updating both of my wonderful stories next. Tell all of your friends about me. See you awesome people later!**


	17. Good News, Bad News, and Great News

**Yo, sup guys? Well, I was insanely bored, so I thought I'd put up this chapter for you. Things around here are pretty crazy (I won't bore you with the details.) and I just really needed to write to work out my frustration. My life is pretty much the reason why I love to read and write. It's an escape. I just have to get away from all of the madness. All of my friends tell me I should be an author and maybe I will 'cause I've got a heck of a lot to say. But, for right now, I'm just happy with my fanfiction. Speaking of which, I probably should get to that. But, before I do, I have great news. Talon666 is back. He has already told me he will begin work on 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' ASAP, so you might want to look at it if you haven't already. Okay, now on with the chapter!**

Light had begun to creep into Iggy and Elisabeth's bedroom despite the closed curtains. The digital clock on the night stand switched from 5:59 to 6:00, way too early to be up on a Saturday morning.

They both slept, unaware of anything going on outside of their dreams. Perfectly oblivious to everything. Peaceful. Relaxed. Content. And they would stay this way until they woke up. Then reality would come rushing back to them and they'd have to put on happy masks to fool everyone, including themselves. But for the moment they dreamed.

The corner of Iggy's mouth twitched slightly. He was lying in his normal position, on his stomach, happily snoozing away. He looked peaceful in sleep. He looked like he did back when he was fourteen years old when he first met the woman lying next to him.

Elisabeth rolled over, her arm thrown across Iggy's still body. She had gotten over her childhood fear of sleeping off the ground with lots of help and assurance from Iggy. All she did anymore, when she wasn't working, was sleep. She was mostly tired and depressed, but it was unnoticeable in her sleep. She looked truly at peace, relaxed.

There wasn't a sound in the whole house except for their deep breathing. It wasn't unlike the way the house sounded when they were awake. They didn't talk much. Occasionally one of them would turn on the TV just for some noise, but they never watched. They usually just left the room after turning it on. That's why on that particular day when the phone rang, they were both immediately aware of it.

Iggy groaned sleepily and nudged Elisabeth who groaned back in response. "Phone." he mumbled, pulling the covers over his head and trying to fall back asleep.

_Who could possibly be calling at this hour? _Elisabeth wondered, still half asleep. If it was Sara Richards again Elisabeth thought she just might end up killing her. She reached over to the night stand and picked up the cordless phone.

"Mmm?" she asked, drifting.

"Mom?" a little voice quavered on the other end. Elisabeth was so tired she almost didn't hear the caller.

"Mel?" she asked tiredly. She wondered why Mel was calling this early. Then comprehension fully dawned on her. "Mel? Sweetie is that you?" She couldn't believe her ears.

"Yeah Mom. It's me." Her voice was shaky.

"Iggy!" She shook him, pulling the covers off of him.

He curled his body up, trying to keep warm. The room was freezing. "What?" he asked, trying to yank the covers out of her hand. He wasn't fully awake and hadn't heard a word Elisabeth had said.

"It's Mel!" She threw the covers on the floor so he couldn't get them and go back to sleep. "She's on the phone!"

"Mmm." Iggy moaned. "Tell her to call back later when we're awake." He rolled on his side and then comprehension fully dawned on him too. He shot up like a bullet. "Mel? Why didn't you say so? Is she ok? What's going on?"

Elisabeth rolled her eyes at him, knowing it was just a wasted effort. She got back to her daughter. "Melody baby, are you okay? Where are you?" She was praying that none of this was a dream. She couldn't bear waking up and finding out that none of this was real.

"I… I'm fine. I escaped. I think we're somewhere in… Arkansas."

"We?" Elisabeth asked. "You… you found others?"

"She found others?" Iggy repeated. "Put her on speaker phone, Elisabeth. I want to talk to her too."

"Hold on sweetheart. I'm putting you on speaker." She pulled the phone off her ear and pressed the speaker button. Melody's shallow, shaky breathing filled the room.

"Mel, it's me." Iggy said, anxious to hear his daughter's voice. He missed her so much.

"Daddy?" She hadn't called him that since she was seven.

He smiled. It warmed his heart to hear her say that again. "Oh sweetie, you don't know how wonderful it is to hear your voice again. We missed you."

"I missed you too." she said, her voice cracking. "It's… good to hear you too."

"You said you found others?" he asked curiously. He was trying to draw attention away from the way she sounded, like she was trying not to cry. He knew she wanted them to think she was tough, brave, just like them.

"Yeah. Jewel and Skye. Jewel's twelve and Skye's fifteen. Jewel's sweet, but Skye, well, he's… difficult."

"Are you bringing them back with you? When do you think you'll be home?" Elisabeth asked, happiness welling up inside her. She couldn't wait to call the flock. They'd have a huge dinner and everything.

Mel didn't answer. Elisabeth's happiness was shot down. She now understood.

"Mel? You there? Melody?" Iggy asked, panicked. Why wasn't she answering? What was happening where she was?

"I… I… can't." she finally managed to choke out. "They're hunting us. Heather Mason… she's the Director. And ter Borcht. And then there are these three bird kids who work for the Director: Tanner, Willow, and Flint. I… I'm probably leading them to us by calling but… I… I…" She paused. "I had to tell you. I didn't want you to worry about me." she finished strongly.

"You better get off then." Iggy said, swallowing hard. It was hard to hear that his daughter wasn't coming back home, but he realized that deep in his subconscious he had a strong feeling that she wouldn't. She was too much like Max and her mother. She didn't want to endanger her family. He had learned to accept that a long time ago.

"I know. I love you." she told them one last time.

"We do too sweetie." Elisabeth said tearfully. "Always remember that. We're with you in your heart." She still wasn't very good at expressing heartfelt emotions, but she thought that, even though it sounded a little cheesy, what she had just said would help her daughter.

"We have faith in you Mel." Iggy said, wishing she didn't have to ever hang up, wishing that this conversation would go on forever. But it couldn't and he knew that.

"I know that too." And she hung up.

Iggy hung up the phone and set it back down in its charger on the end table. He stared at it for a second, trying to keep Mel's voice in his head for just a little while longer.

Elisabeth leaned her head on his shoulder, tears glistening in her chocolate brown eyes. Iggy held her tight, feeling her shoulders come up and down as she shook and sobbed.

Just then, the doorbell rang, interrupting their sad, quiet moment, and Elisabeth sat up. She wiped the tears off her face, grabbed her hair bow off of the end table, and pulled her dark hair back into a sloppy bun.

Iggy felt her move and knew what she was going to do. "You don't have to get it. I can. I will." He yawned, still very tired, and ran his fingers through his messy strawberry blonde hair.

"No." Elisabeth said, sniffing and shaking her head. "I need to get it." She climbed out of bed and picked her robe off of the ground, pulling it on. She decided that she ought to look decent, especially if it was Sara at the door.

"Wait." Iggy said, getting up. "I'll come with you." He wasn't wearing a shirt, but he could care less what Sara thought of him. He took a few steps toward Elisabeth, got his foot tangled in the cover, and did a face plant in the carpet.

Elisabeth giggled, just like when they were kids, and helped him get to his feet. Then she heard a noise that made her breath catch in her throat. Someone had opened the front door. The _locked _front door. She heard it close behind the intruder.

Iggy stood rigidly next to her, grasping her hand, listening to the footsteps downstairs. His face was blank as he listened closely and then suddenly he looked confused.

"Angel?! Gazzy?!" he called at the closed bedroom door. He couldn't believe it was them. They would've called first, but there was no mistaking their footsteps. He had heard them all his life.

Elisabeth heard a soft, vague, "Yeah" in answer and Iggy's face broke into a huge grin. He couldn't wait to tell them all about Mel being alright and her phone call. They'd be so happy.

"Bedroom!" he called down to them. But, wait why were they there and at six thirty in the morning on a Saturday?

Elisabeth heard them thunder up the stairs (a noise she hadn't heard in too long). They came to a stop at the closed bedroom door, swung it wide open, and tackled the both of them.

"How'd you get in here?" Elisabeth asked, hugging Angel tightly.

"You think Iggy's the only one who can pick a lock?" Gazzy asked, grinning. "He is my best friend after all."

"What're you doing here this early?" Iggy asked, anxious to tell them about Melody.

"I got a new power!" Angel shouted gleefully. "I couldn't wait to tell you!" Then she got a wide-eyed look on her face. "You talked to Melody?"

The Gasman looked astounded. "Mel? Why didn't you say something? Where is she? Did she bust up a couple of whitecoats?" He had a look in his eye that Elisabeth knew only too well, though she was used to looking down to see it, not up. The Gasman had grown in the last fourteen years.

"Calm down." Elisabeth said smiling. "We don't know anything about her escape except that she has joined up with two other mutants and that they're being hunted."

"Oh." Gazzy said, looking disappointed. "I take it she isn't comin' home then huh?"

Iggy shook his head sadly and they all stood in silence for a few minutes until Angel said, "But we can still talk to her. Or well I can anyways since it's my power."

"What is it?" Elisabeth asked curiously, slipping off her robe and undoing her hair. It fell all around her and a burst of coconut wafted through the room, making Iggy's heart race. He still loved that smell.

Angel looked like she couldn't contain herself, like she might explode. "I think it's my last power though, since it's been a while since the last time I got a new one." She held a dramatic pause for a few tense seconds before she said, "I can enter people's dreams and interact with them and stuff."

Elisabeth was interested, but didn't see how it could help considering Mel was all the way in Arkansas and apparently Iggy shared her thoughts.

"But Mel's in Arkansas. Or, she thinks she is anyway. Isn't that too far. I mean, if your mind reading powers don't work from that far then this one shouldn't either right?" he asked.

Angel nodded. "That's what I thought too when I first discovered this power. I was just thinking about Gazzy before I went to sleep and then somehow I popped into his dream, but I was fully aware of everything." She frowned. "I can't explain it right. But anyway, I wondered if it would work again, so I tried Total and that's when I found out I could talk with whoever's dream I happened to be in."

"Okay, but how do you know you can talk to Mel?" Elisabeth asked, thinking she knew what Angel was getting at.

"Well, last night I was thinking about her when I went to sleep and I popped into her dream. I didn't talk to her, but I just watched from behind a tree. She didn't know I was there because I stayed hidden. I didn't want to freak her out. So I woke up the Gasman and here we are."

Elisabeth pulled Angel in another hug. "Angel, you have no idea how much this means to me."

**Okay, that was pretty emotional, just the way I feel. So, Mel got to talk to her parents and they stopped worrying. I also gave Angel a new power 'cause I wanted someone to give her advice about something later on. Well, I still would really love drawings of any of the characters from my three fanfictions, 'With Wings Wide Open', 'In the Blink of an Eye', and 'Solar Flare'. I'm posting all of the pictures I get on the last day of my summer vacation, August 26****th****. Don't know when I'll be updating again, but it should be around next Tuesday if everything goes good. Keep your fingers crossed. Read and review all of my stories. Nice long reviews please. And from more than three people. I know a ton of people are reading this story, but right now only three are reviewing. Come on people. Well, fly on!**


	18. Chicago

**Hey guys! It is time, once again, for another update for this lovely fan fiction. I hope you are all as psyched as I am. On a totally unrelated note, how awesome is the song 'Poker Face' by Lady GaGa? I mean, really. It's one of my current favorite songs. Okay, well before we get to this chapter, I have the usual announcements. First, all of you Twilight fans should check out my story 'Solar Flare'. It's awesome. I'm putting a new chapter for it up today too. So, check that out. Read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' by Madeline Cullen. Excellent stories, excellent authors, and excellent reviewers of my stories. Now, I'm starting band camp next week. Technically, it's not really camp, more like summer band practice, but whatever. I might not have time to update this story that often for the whole month of August, but I'll try. Okay, now onto our story.**

I hung the phone up, but kept my grip on it. I swear it was the only thing keeping me standing. I had just told my parents that I wasn't coming home. Ever. I just broke their hearts. I knew they understood, but I still felt like crap. Worse than crap.

"Heads up Princess!" I heard someone shout at me from way behind.

Before I had the chance to turn around, something knocked me in the back of the head, hard. I managed to turn around and I saw Skye, doubled over with laughter. On the ground, rolling away, was a bottle of water he had obviously just thrown at me.

I rubbed my sore head and went chasing after the water. I caught up with it, opened it, and took a swig.

"Nice aim!" I yelled at Skye. "You should be a pro baseball player!" I shouted sarcastically.

He walked over to me, gasping for breath. "Hey, I gave you fair warning."

I rolled my eyes and hit him in the head with my bottle. "Stop calling me Princess." I muttered darkly.

He shrugged. "Whatever you say… Mel." And then I swear I heard him mutter back, "You know you like it."

I hit him in the head again. He howled, "Ow! What the hell was that for?"

"Language." I growled at him, noticing Jewel walking out of the gas station. She was grinning at us, mischievously. That girl really made me wonder. Just what was on her mind?

Jewel walked over toward us, all smiles. "So, what are we going to do now? Where are we going?" she asked, very curious and overly perky.

I ran my fingers through my hair, groaning. I hadn't the slightest clue of anything. Max and the flock had reasons for going places. We were just wandering around aimlessly. I missed solid goals.

"What?" Skye asked, smirking. "Our brilliant leader doesn't know what she's doing?"

I glared at him evilly. Did he really have to do this? Yes. Yes he did. A brilliant idea hit me at that exact second. "We're going to Chicago."

Skye frowned. "And just what, pray tell, is in Chicago?"

It was my turn to smirk. "Jeb Batchelder."

"Who?" Skye and Jewel asked simultaneously.

"He's an ex-whitecoat. Max's father, or so he says. Hasn't proved it yet." I had learned at a young age to be wary of Jeb, but I had no choice. What else could I do? It was either get advice from Jeb or wander around until either the School caught us or we dropped dead from hunger and exhaustion.

"So, let me get this straight." Skye said, incredulously. "You expect us to trust an ex-whitecoat who, from the sound of it, you don't even trust."

I nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, that sounds about right."

Skye threw his head back and waved his arms at the sky. "Are you crazy?!" He looked at me and then went on a rant.

I tapped my foot until he was finished with his little episode. "Are you quite finished?" I asked when he was through.

"Yeah."

"Good." I said. "I'm leader. What I say goes. Jeb is our only hope. He helped the flock and he's going to help us. So quit your whining and get to flapping!" I ordered.

"In broad daylight?" he asked, skeptically.

I smacked my forehead. "No not in broad daylight." I took another sip of my water and started walking to the place where we had landed earlier. Jewel and Skye fell into step behind me.

We silently took off, headed for Chicago. Did I really believe that Jeb could help? I wasn't sure, but I thought he could at least reassure me that everything would be fine. At least we'd have a place to sleep for the night. Nice warm bed, hot shower, a decent meal, and possibly some nice clean clothes.

Of course, I didn't know if I could really trust Jeb. Not even the flock was completely sure he was absolutely trustworthy. And I was still wondering how the School knew where to find me. I had figured out why they hadn't gotten me at my house. They would've had a run-in with the flock. Not fun.

"Hey Mel?" Jewel asked me after a while.

"Yeah? What is it?" I asked, sneaking a glance over my shoulder at Skye who was flying quietly behind me, scowling.

She pulled up as close to me as she could get without hitting me with her wings on the down beat. "Skye doesn't hate you. He just has a hard time letting people get close to him, you know after Tanner and Willow and all."

I swallowed and nodded. "Sure."

She gave me a 'look'. "Really Mel. I mean it."

I ignored her and looked at my watch. Yikes. We'd been flying for quite a while. We had to be getting pretty close. I dipped down lower and looked down below. We were in Chicago alright. Now if only I could remember exactly where Jeb lived.

I nodded to Jewel who understood and signaled Skye to follow. We found a vacant alley way and landed, tucking in our wings.

Jewel looked at me, expectantly, and I knew it was time to put on my leader face. I looked around and, deciding the coast was clear, led them onto the street.

"So." Skye said, as we walked along the street. "Where's this Jeb guy live anyway?"

I turned around to scowl at him, but I stopped when I looked into his eyes. I shook my head and said, "Well, he has an apartment around here somewhere, but I've never been in this part of the city. It might take me a while to find him."

He snorted and mumbled, "Figures."

I rolled my eyes and looked straight ahead. I wasn't going to look back at him until we got to Jeb's. He knew I had no idea where I was going and was enjoying making me look like an idiot.

After about half an hour of walking through the city, I noticed Jewel was lagging. I sighed and turned to Skye. "Hey Sticky Fingers. Got any money left?" I asked grudgingly.

He pulled a wad of cash out of his pocket and started counting. "'Bout twenty bucks."

I nodded and led them to the nearest Burger King. When we entered the restaurant, I noticed heads turn to stare at us. I supposed we must have looked pretty dirty and beat up. I told Jewel to grab a booth and Skye and I went to order.

"Can I help you?" the cashier asked me. He looked a little older than me. Probably his first job.

I nodded, looking at the menu. "Yeah, uh can I get a Tendergrill chicken sandwich without tomato, a couple large orders of fries, two medium Sprites, a Whopper Jr., and…" I turned to Skye. "What do you want?"

"Uh…" he shrugged, "How 'bout a medium coke and a Double Whopper?"

I nodded. "Yeah, that'll be good." We needed more, but this would hold us until I could find Jeb. Besides, we were running out of money. Fast.

"For here or to go?" he asked me.

"Here."

He nodded. "Okay, let's see. That'll be $10.95." Skye handed him the twenty dollar bill and he handed back our change.

I walked to the booth Jewel was sitting at while Skye got our food. I slid in next to her silently. Sinking into that seat made me realize how very tired I was. It felt good just to sit down in a nice, cool restaurant.

Soon Skye, assisted by the cashier, carried the trays of food to our table. They set them down and Skye slid into the seat opposite me and Jewel.

I turned to the cashier, smiled, and said, "Thanks."

He just smiled back, nodded, and walked away, but I noticed he kept looking at me. Great. I had an admirer.

I grabbed my sandwich, my stomach growling loudly, and took a huge bite. It was so delicious and warm. I swallowed and took a gulp of my Sprite. I didn't say anything until I had eaten everything.

When I was finished, I wiped my mouth with my napkin and looked out of the window next to our table. I saw a lot of people walking. Nothing too interesting.

I turned back to Jewel and Skye. "So, you guys ready to go?"

I got two nods, so I stood up, stretching. Jewel slid out after me and Skye followed suit. I threw away our garbage and we walked out. I was feeling better than I had when we landed and I thought Jewel and Skye were too.

We walked down a few streets when we came across a building that said 'Irving Apartments'. I thought the name sounded familiar, so I led Jewel and Skye over there.

We walked in and went up to the front desk. The man behind it gave me a puzzled look and asked, "Can I help you kids?"

I nodded. "Yeah, actually you can. Does a Jeb Batchelder live here?"

He looked at me and slowly asked, "And who are you?"

I sighed and said, "I'm Melody Smith." Then I added, "His great niece." _I think anyways._

He nodded towards Jewel and Skye. "And them?"

"My friends."

He grabbed a phone and dialed some buttons. "Sorry to bother you Mr. Batchelder, but there's a girl here to see you." He paused. "Says her name's Melody Smith. Your great niece." He paused again. "Uh… 'bout 5'6, tan, dark brown hair, blue eyes." He paused again. "Just a couple friends. Boy and a girl." Another pause. "'Kay. I'll send em' up."

He hung up and turned to me. "He's on the third floor. Room 302. Take the stairs. Elevator's broken."

I nodded. "Thank you very much sir."

He nodded back. "No prob."

Jewel, Skye, and I ran up the stairs. "So, wonder why that guy at the front desk was so… uneasy about letting us in." Jewel said.

"Jeb's number one on the School's list of people to hunt down and torture for information." I told her. "He has to be very careful. Moves around a lot. Probably gave that guy orders to be careful about letting people up to see him."

"Yeah." Skye said. "But, why did he need a description of you?"

I sighed. "Well, anyone could say they were Melody Smith. He needed to be sure it was me. He's still probably not sure."

We got up to the third floor and I asked Jewel, "302, right?". She nodded and I knocked on the third door.

The door opened a sliver, still chain-locked, and I saw Jeb's worried face peek out of the crack. "Melody?" he asked, unsure.

"Yeah, it's me. If you don't believe me you got me a camera for my tenth birthday. Digital. Kodak. Silver." I said, giving a description. That way he'd know it was me and not a clone.

"Who's that with you?" he asked, still unsure.

I sighed. "Jewel and Skye. My friends." Crazy old paranoid man. Guess the flock had to get it from somewhere.

He backed away from the door and unlocked it. It swung open and he said, "Get inside. Quickly."

We walked in and he shut the door quickly behind us. "They got you didn't they?" he asked me, studying Jewel and Skye. He must have known they were experiments and not normal kids.

I nodded, looking around the messy apartment. "Yeah. 'Bout a month ago."

"Sit down and tell me about it." he said, motioning towards the couch.

I sat down and began recounting the story of my capture by Itex. I didn't leave out a single detail. The story was longer that way, but if Jeb was going to help me then he needed to know everything.

**Well, that's all for this riveting chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. I really, really am going to try to update this story next week, but if I can't I just want to apologize in advance. Anyway, keep reading and reviewing. Send me any pictures you draw of any of my characters. See you next Tuesday. Bye.**


	19. Melody's Blog: Fly On 2

**Hey guys. Since I was so bored I thought I'd write some fanfic. Apparently, I'm a friendless loser who has nothing better to do than write all day. No. I'm just kidding. I have tons of friends. They're all just on vacation or asleep or getting ready for band or doing AP US History homework (like I should be doing). Okie dokie then, I guess now that I'm done with my rant it's time for the usual. Read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' by Madeline Cullen. Okay, for those of you who didn't know, there is a Maximum Ride Fanfiction Awards 2 contest by Myrah going on and I've been nominated. So be sure to check that out and vote for any Maximum Ride fanfictions that you think are awesome. I still want drawings of the characters from my fanfics so draw me something and send it to me. At the end of the summer I'll post any pictures I get on my profile. Alrighty then, on with this wonderful story.**

I stepped out of the shower and shivered. Why did Jeb have the air conditioning on? I dried off and pulled my dirty clothes back on, defeating the whole purpose of my shower. I wiped the steam covered mirror with my towel and combed my tangled hair.

After I finished ripping out my hair by the roots, I picked up my towel and opened the door. "Skye! Your turn!" I shouted, walking into Jeb's living room.

Skye, who was sitting on the floor playing tic-tac-toe with Jewel, rolled his eyes and stood up, glowering at me. "What are you? My mother?" He started to walk off towards the bathroom.

"Just go!" I told him. I then decided to add, "And wash behind your ears young man!", making him stop short and turn around to face me.

"I'm older than you." he reminded me, growling. His face was priceless.

"Leader." I challenged. I knew he wouldn't say another word on the subject.

Just as I predicted, he didn't say another word, but I heard him grumble all the way to the bathroom. I smirked at Jewel who kept her hand over her mouth, dissolving into muffled giggles.

I sat down on the couch, my hand over my mouth, thinking to myself. After I told Jeb my story he stared into space for a while, shrugged his shoulders, and invited me to stay as long as I wanted. I had taken him up on that offer, but decided we'd only stay until tomorrow afternoon. I had then ushered Jewel into the shower and tried to hunt up some clothes. Needless to say, I didn't find anything.

"Mel?" Jeb asked, peering into the living room from the doorway that led to the small kitchen. "This is all I've got." He held up a couple packs of Ramen noodles. "Is that okay?"

I nodded and hopped off the couch. "It'll be fine. But lemme make it Jeb. Skye has trust issues and with you being a whitecoat…" I trailed off. I felt terrible about that, but what else could I say?

Jeb, with a grim look on his face, nodded. "Perfectly understandable. Don't blame him one bit." Then, as an after thought, he added, "Pots are in the cabinet under the sink." He walked off into his bedroom. He told me that he was looking for something. I really didn't bother to ask.

I dragged out a pot and got some water boiling. I heard a noise and instinctively spun around. It was just Skye, a questionable look on his face, his wet bangs sticking to his forehead. "Just noodles." I sighed. Why was everyone I knew so paranoid?

He nodded slowly and walked back in the living room, sitting down next to Jewel, who was channel surfing, on the couch. I could hear the faint, muffled sound of voices and other various noises.

I turned back to the stove and added the noodles and sauce packets. I was about to go to a flashback of the day Dad taught me how to cook, when I heard Jewel come up behind me.

"Mel?" she asked, in that quiet voice of hers.

"Yeah?" I asked. "What is it?" She looked nervous, as if she was scared to say anything to me.

She sighed. "I was just wondering if you…" She looked down at the floor. "Never mind."

"Tell me what it is Jewel." I said, prodding her.

"It wasn't important. Just forget about it." she said, tucking her short red hair behind her ears.

"If it wasn't important then you wouldn't have brought it up. Just ask me." I told her. I wanted her to be able to come to me with anything. I was in charge of her and if she couldn't trust me not to tell secrets or whatever then she couldn't trust me to make sure she was going to be safe.

She shook her head stubbornly. "Just skip it. Forget I said anything." Before I could say anything else, she ran into the living room at exactly the same time my timer went off.

I took the pot off of the stove and filled four bowls full of the warm, steaming noodles. "Come and get it!" I shouted at everyone, picking up my own bowl and carefully walking towards the living room.

As Jeb passed me on his way to the kitchen he whispered, "I have a couple of things for you." and then grabbed his supper.

I settled myself in front of Jeb's coffee table, not quite ready for whatever it was he wanted to give to me. Jewel plopped down next to me and, noting my worried face, tensed up a little bit.

I took a deep breath, trying to relax. I didn't want Jewel to think something was wrong, 'cause nothing was wrong. As far as I knew anyway.

Jeb walked in the room, juggling his bowl and a huge bag. Skye almost bumped into him coming into the room. Fortunately, we didn't have an accident and Skye sat down on the couch while Jeb settled himself in a chair.

I took a bite of my noodles and then pointed to the bag Jeb brought. "So, what's in there?"

Jeb swallowed a mouthful of noodles and handed me the bag. "Open it up and see what's inside for yourself. I think you'll be excited."

I opened the bag and gasped. Inside was a slightly beat-up, familiar laptop. It used to belong to Fang back when the flock was on the run. I pulled it out slowly, on the verge of tears, noticing Skye looking at me funny and Jewel looking shocked and confused. I didn't have time to explain though.

"Jeb… how did you get this?" I breathed.

He smiled softly and said, "Fang gave it to me about a month ago. He had a hunch that if you ever got out that you'd stop by here. Smart kid." He sighed. "Always was. You're just like him and your mom. Iggy too." He fell silent.

"Hold up." Skye said, crushing the moment. "Am I the only one who is thinking clearly here? We're on the run from the School." He stared at me in disbelief. "Has it occurred to you that if we use this computer they'll track us through it."

I just loved bursting his bubble. It was like a new past-time of mine. "They can't. It's track and hack proof. Fang stole it from the School. It also has an unlimited battery. Doesn't need to be charged." Everyone once in a while, the School actually came up with something that was helpful without hurting anyone.

He looked mad. Good. "And you're sure?"

I nodded. "They could never track the flock through it. Sure they found them other ways, but never through the computer."

That's when I got an idea. "Jeb, I just realized. I can start up Fang's old blog again. My parents won't have to worry. They'll never know where I am, but as long as I keep the blog going, they'll know I'm okay." It was perfect.

Jeb nodded. "I think that's what Fang was hoping for." Then he nodded towards the bag. "There's something else in there for you. Something else that you might find very useful."

I searched the bottom of the bag and found a flat, square, plastic thing. I immediately knew what it was. "You got me a credit card?" I asked, pulling it out of the bag.

Jeb nodded. "That way you don't have to resort to stealing." He looked at Skye. "Don't worry. You can keep that thirty bucks you took out of my wallet. I probably should have kept a better eye on it, so that's my stupid mistake."

Unbelievable. Here Jeb was helping us and Skye just couldn't resist taking money from him. I glared at Skye, angrily. "No Jeb, he'll give it back. Right Skye."

Skye glared back at me, just as angry, and started to fish the money out of his pocket before Jeb held up his hand in protest. "No Melody. Keep it. I insist."

I stared into Jeb's stubborn eyes and just gave up. There was no way he'd let me give it back. I turned back to my food and didn't look up until I was finished eating.

I was just about to suggest we all get some shut eye when Jewel yawned sleepily. She rubbed her eyes. She was exhausted from all that flying and walking we did earlier. I was too come to think of it.

Jeb, seeing what I was thinking, said, "I have a spare bedroom. I already fixed up the blow up mattress for you girls. Skye can sleep in here on the couch." He pulled a cover off the back of the chair and tossed it, and a cushion, to Skye.

I nodded and picked up the laptop, ushering Jewel into the bedroom. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she was asleep. Poor kid.

I booted up the computer and started typing. I had a lot to say. I knew Fang would be checking and would let my parents know immediately. Things were looking up, but I had a feeling something was going to happen. Tanner, Willow, and Flint had to show up sometime. I knew that. It was only a matter of time.

**Okay, so that's all for this chapter. I hoped you all liked that. Now, since Mel is taking over Fang's blog, I'm making her a Max-Dan-Wiz profile for her. The link will be up on my page soon. She will be posting stuff from time to time just so you know what's going on. I got this idea from Madeline Cullen, so thanks Maddy. Well, read my other fanfictions and leave me a nice long review. I hope I will be updating soon. I will try to have something else by next week. Promise. Anyway, bye.**


	20. Eat and Run

**Yo guys. How is everyone? Ready for another update? Well, I hope so. Before I begin though, I have several things to say. On my last update, I noticed I had three hundred hits but only three reviews. This kinda made me upset. I mean, if you read and don't review how is that supposed to make me feel? I feel like you don't like my story. So, I really hope this chapter gets a lot more reviews than the last one. This is sort of a filler, so nothing much exciting happens. I will be making this story a lot more action packed in the next few chapters. Trust me, I have big things planned for this story. I'm telling you, you won't believe what I'm going to do. Just hold on okay. Alright, read 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen (a huge supporter, awesome author, and great reviewer) and 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 (another huge supporter, awesome author, and great reviewer). These are amazing stories. If they weren't I wouldn't be taking the time to mention them. Okay, read my Twilight story 'Solar Flare'. Trust me, if you love Twilight and this story you will love 'Solar Flare'. Okay, I've probably been talking a little too much. I seem to do that a lot. Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Remember, it's a filler so nothing much happens, but it is still really important. You'll see why later. Okay, here's Chapter 19 for all of you lovely people. Enjoy!**

I woke up with a start. Where in the h-e-double hockey sticks was I? Nothing was familiar. My eyes flashed to the floor next to me. Fang's laptop was sitting on the ground. That's right. I was at Jeb's. Everything came rushing back to me. I took a deep breath, relief washing over me.

I pulled the laptop on my lap and logged into the blog. Hmm. I got hundreds of hits and only a couple of comments saying that I was lying and stuff like that. What part of 'this is not a hoax' did people not seem to get? I mean, really.

I was just about to get off when I saw that I had a new comment. I clicked on it and read.

Dancerbabe678: If you really are Fang's niece then what happened to the Flock?

Okay, so they wanted to know what happened to the Flock. I'd let them know. I typed up a new blog explaining what happened to everyone and what they were doing, trying not to give away any crucial details. Anyone could be reading this. And I mean anyone.

Soon, I was finished and decided to go get some breakfast. I was hungry. I looked over at Jewel and decided I'd make her something too. And Skye while I was at it. Annoying and mean as he was, I may need his help and that meant I couldn't let him starve.

I silently crawled out of bed and left the room. I walked down the hall, past the bathroom, and ended up in the living room.

Skye was asleep on the couch. He looked like a little kid when he was asleep. He looked sweet. I had to wrench myself away. If he woke up and saw me looking at him, he'd torment me forever.

I walked into the kitchen and was surprised to see Jeb at the table eating bacon and scrambled eggs. He didn't look too surprised to see me though. He pulled up a chair and motioned for me to sit down.

"Morning Melody." he said, pleasantly. "I thought you'd be hungry so I went ahead and made breakfast." He looked towards the doorway to the living room. "You can tell your friend Skye that you cooked it." He had a twinkle in his eye that I couldn't place.

"Uh…thanks." I said, uncomfortably. I didn't like the look Jeb was giving me. I pulled one of the other plates of food on the table towards me and began eating silently.

"So, uh… did you work on the blog yet?" Jeb asked, curiously. He had stopped giving me that look so I relaxed.

"Yeah." I said, swallowing a forkful of eggs. "Last night and this morning. I don't think anybody believes me though."

Jeb nodded. "After such a long silence it might be difficult for some people to believe it was all real. They probably dismissed it as some movie stunt that crashed and burned." He looked thoughtfully at his eggs and said, "They might eventually believe you."

He sounded ominous and I wondered if he knew something that he wasn't telling me. I didn't have long to ponder that though, because Jewel walked into the kitchen, tousle haired and rubbing her eyes.

"Morning Jewel." I said, pulling up a chair for her.

"Mmm." she mumbled sleepily. I pushed the plate of breakfast in front of her face and she took the fork in her hand, instinctively shoving food in her face, but probably unaware that she was doing it.

A minute or so later, I heard Skye pad into the kitchen quietly. He was stretching, his arms over his head, and I had to stifle a laugh at his bed head. He let out a loud yawn and plopped down in the chair next to Jewel. He looked suspiciously at the eggs on the plate in front of him.

I sighed. "They're safe. Don't worry." He prodded them with his fork and I shoved a bite in my mouth. "See I'm eating it and nothing's happening. Jewel and Jeb are fine too. Stop being paranoid."

He shot me a dirty look, but ate his breakfast anyway. I rolled my eyes and finished my own breakfast.

When everyone was finished, I turned to Jeb and said, "Well, I guess we'd better hit the skies then. Thanks for everything." I hopped up, but Jeb put his hand up, stopping me.

"You aren't going anywhere without a plan young lady." he told me. "You can't just run forever. You at least have to have some idea of where you're going."

What? "But… b… you… can't… you ca-" I stuttered before Jeb interrupted me.

"I can tell you what to do Melody and I am."

I knew what he was doing. "Oh no. You are not getting me to save the world. That was Max's job. Not me. I'm just trying to survive. No way." I clenched my hands into fists. Jewel and Skye looked from me to Jeb. Jewel looked worried, but Skye looked amused.

He shook his head. "Melody, I don't want you to save the world. I just want you to be safe."

That threw me for a loop. "What?" I asked, incredulously. "You _don't _want me to save the world?" This was a new one.

He shook his head again. "No I don't. What I want you to do is visit an… acquaintance of mine. You should be able to rest and get some good food. He lives in a small town in Tennessee. Martin, Tennessee. You'll reach it by tomorrow."

"What do you mean tomorrow?" I asked. If this guy lived in Tennessee then we'd be there long before nightfall.

"Melody, it's twelve o'clock." Jeb informed me.

"Twelve! We slept that long!" I shouted in amazement.

Jewel spoke up then. "Mel, maybe it's a good thing that we slept so long. We all feel a lot better. It'll give us more energy in case we run into Tanner."

Jeb nodded. "Yes. From what you tell me about Tanner, it is best that you all have a lot of energy to fight him. Willow and Flint too. The Director wouldn't have picked them if they weren't dangerous."

Skye tightened his grip on his fork, his knuckles turning white. I thought I heard a low growl coming from his throat.

"I suppose." I said, trying not to show that I was really worried about Skye. I didn't want him to do anything stupid, something he'd regret.

"Well," Jeb said, standing up. "I suppose you all better get going. But, before you do I have one more thing for you that should make your trip easier."

I raised an eyebrow, curious. Jeb left the room and returned moments later with a black backpack.

"I thought you could carry the laptop and other things in it." he said, tossing it to me.

I caught it and nodded. "Skye and I will take turns carrying it. That way neither of us has to carry it for very long." Skye glared at me, so I tossed it to him. "Thanks for volunteering to carry it first Skye. What a gentleman."

He rolled his eyes, but slung it over his shoulder anyway.

I walked to the spare room Jewel and I had slept in. I grabbed the laptop and the comb I had used to untangle my hair after my shower. You never knew what you might need. I also made sure I still had a bobby pin in my pocket. I did.

"'Kay." I said, walking into the living room. Skye and Jewel were waiting at the door for me. I shoved the comb and laptop into the backpack and zipped it up. "Let's get going."

"Wait Mel!" Jeb called from the kitchen. He rushed into the living room, waving a piece of paper. "This is the address of the person I want you to see. Keep that close."

I nodded and started to turn towards the door when Jeb flung his arms around me in a hug. I was taken aback, and not much of a hugger, so I awkwardly patted Jeb on the back.

I pulled back and stood up straight, straightening his glasses. "Sorry. You're family. Be safe."

"I will." I promised and pulled the door open. I walked out into the hall, followed by Skye and Jewel. Jewel shut the door behind her and we walked down the stairs, out of the apartment, and onto the crowded street in silence.

My life had certainly gotten a lot more complicated in the past month. I remember Max wondering what kinds of adventures I'd have. I just scoffed. I didn't think my life would be very exciting. Just grow up in that small town, get a job, and pray that some guy out there would love me even with wings.

I never thought I'd be running for my life with two other kids depending on me. I always thought that was more Max and my mother, not me. I always thought I was more of the normal type of person. Whatever normal meant anymore.

I felt Jewel tug on my arm and was brought back to Earth. Man, I'd been spacing out a lot lately.

"Oh man. I think I'm still a little sleepy." I said, faking a yawn. "Sorry Jewel." I looked at where we were and turned a corner. Perfect, an abandoned alleyway.

I led them into it and we took off, still completely silent. I guess we all had things to think about. A lot of things to think about. I looked at Skye and sighed to myself. Scratch that. A whole hell of a lot of things to think about.

**Well, that's all for now. I'll try and update sometime next week. Uh, remember to leave me a nice, long, lovely review. Also, read my Twilight story 'Solar Flare'. It's pretty amazing. Well, I still want pictures of my characters, so draw me up some pictures and send them to me. Okay then, well I gotta go. Keep reading and reviewing. Check out Melody's blog. The link's on my profile. Bye!**


	21. Headaches and Heartaches

**What time is it?! No, I'm not going crazy High School Musical 2 on you guys. (I don't like that movie at all.) I was going to say that it's time for another update. So you can all chillax. I wouldn't torture you guys. (Unless you happen to like High School Musical in which case I'm sorry if I just offended you.) Well, anyway I was in a writing kind of mood (When am I not?) so I thought I'd treat you guys to a brand spanking new chapter. Yeah, I know it's early but I didn't go to band camp today because I'm sick and I was just itching to update. Okay, I decided to skip all of the flying stuff, so Mel, Skye, and Jewel are resting. Now time for my usual announcements. Read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. They are the two most awesome people ever. Okay then, I suppose I should get on with the chapter. Read my Twilight story 'Solar Flare'. Okay, now we can get on with the chapter. Hope you like it.**

Night. In my opinion, the best time of the day. A peaceful time when the stars are out and the crickets sing. A time when a normal person would be asleep. But, not me. I was up in a tree with the laptop, watching Jewel and Skye sleeping down below. Yeah, it was my turn for watch. Yippie.

I let out a loud, long yawn and stretched back so far, I almost fell out of the tree. My wings were really stiff and all I wanted to do was go to bed. I was so tired I didn't even care that the ground was probably not anymore comfy than the tree.

Max had always said watch was her favorite thing to do. It gave her time to think about things. Well, that was all fine and dandy for her, but I didn't want time to think about things. That was the absolute last thing I wanted. I'd rather have Tanner come and beat the living crud out of me then think, so if that doesn't tell you how much I hated it, then you may need your head examined.

All thinking got me was a headache. My thoughts tended to wander. One minute, I could be thinking about my family and the next, I found myself thinking about Skye. Yeah, that's when the headaches started.

I usually didn't let people bother me too much, but Skye had burrowed deep under my skin and I knew he wasn't coming out anytime soon. I'd think to myself_: How could one guy be so infuriating?_ Then I'd remember the person that aggravates my mom the most is Dad and that Fang is about the only one who can get Max really worked up. Did that mean that I was meant to be with Skye?

Gah! It was all too confusing. See? That's why I hate having time to think. I didn't want to think about Skye. If I fell hard for him, then I'd most definitely be hurt. But had I already fallen hard for him? No, no more thinking.

I opened the laptop. No new comments. I'd gotten two on my latest blog post, but I'd already read them both about a million times apiece since I'd been on watch. That had been hours.

Suddenly, I heard a noise down below. I snapped the laptop shut as quietly as possible and I immediately went on full alert. I held my breath and my eyes scanned the ground.

Huh. Skye was up. Very suspicious. I checked my watch. Or maybe not. I must have lost track of time because my shift had ended about fifteen minutes ago.

I watched Skye for a minute. He stayed still, looking around. He shook his head and I faintly heard him mutter, "Hmm. She's gone. Wonder where to.". Well, I couldn't have him think I was up to something.

I tucked the laptop under my arm and dropped straight out of the tree. I hit the ground without so much as a thud. (I inherited my mother and uncle's quiet ninja-like nature.) I stayed crouched behind Skye for a second (he had no clue) and then straightened myself up saying, "Is it your turn for watch already?".

Skye did a complete 360. The expression on his face made me laugh so hard. "Where in the hell did you come from?" he asked, out of breath. Well, I sure scared the crap out of him.

I smirked and pointed up to the tree. "From up there. After you fell asleep I decided I'd keep watch from the tree. Better vantage point."

Skye raised his eyebrow. "No way. I would've heard your wings beating when you flew down."

I smirked again. "I dropped down."

He shook his head. "I would've heard you fall."

I shook my head. "My mother and Uncle Fang were quiet. We think the whitecoats designed them that way for stealth. Anyway, sometimes not even my dad can hear them come up behind him."

He sat down on the ground and crossed his legs. "And your dad's blind right?" he asked. "He has heightened hearing senses."

I nodded and sat down next to him. "Yeah. A mosquito couldn't come within a mile of him without him knowing. He also has a sensitive touch. He can even tell people apart by their finger prints."

Skye nodded, not wanting to admit that he thought it was cool. I could tell by the gleam in his eyes. His beautiful, deep, dark, ocean blue eyes. Oh no. Here we go again. Why? Just why?

I had to do something, fast. I sighed and said, "I also have heightened hearing senses. Not as strong as Dad's but…" I paused. "I heard what you said about me. Both times. At the gas station and just a few minutes ago."

Skye made a face and swore under his breath. "Yeah, well it's no secret that you think I'm a spy!" he whispered loudly.

I heard Jewel moan from her sleeping spot and held my breath. If she woke up I'd murder Skye. Thankfully, all she did was roll over. I breathed a sigh of relief. That was a close one. If she heard us fighting again, she'd be ticked.

I frowned hard at him. "Yeah, well you're the one who's had all those meetings with the Director. I've only had two. It was like every other day you were gone." I retaliated.

I scowled at me and said, "Yeah, well I'm not the one with motive!"

I scoffed. "What motive?"

"You'd do anything to get home wouldn't you?"

I clenched my jaw. "Not that. No matter what, I'd never do that." How dare he suggest such a thing? I could have killed him.

"And what makes you think I would?" he practically growled.

"Hmm. Well, could it be the fact that Tanner was your best friend? How do I know you didn't finally give in?" I retorted. He wasn't going to win.

Skye's lip curled in a snarl. "Was. Tanner _was _my best friend. The traitor joined the Director and then had the gall to ask me to join when he damn well knew how much I hated her."

Ooh. I guess I accidentally struck a nerve. I stared at him for a minute and then sighed. "Look, suspecting each other isn't going to get us anywhere." I stuck out my hand and he stared at it, confused. "Truce?"

He continued to stare at it. "Under what conditions?" he asked, slowly.

I rolled my eyes. "Why are you so frickin' paranoid?" I asked. He didn't answer so I sighed. "Ok, if I find out you're lying or vice-versa I'll rip your head off and vice-versa."

He nodded and shook my hand. "Deal." He dropped my hand and stared directly into my eyes, no expression on his face. "This doesn't mean I like you at all." he informed me.

I got the message loud and clear. "Same here." I growled back, but on the inside I was sick to my stomach. I stood up. "Good night." I said coolly. I went over to my patch of ground and laid down on my side. I put my back to him, so he wouldn't see me cry if I lost control and the tears fell.

There it was. Laid out plain as day right in front of my face. Skye truly did hate me. The only reason he even stayed was because Jewel liked me and wasn't going to leave.

And that was the thought that did it. The tears that were stinging the corners of my eyes fell one by one, white hot. I prayed that I wouldn't start shaking. He'd know then. I could never ever let him know.

I sucked in a deep breath and bit down on my bottom lip as hard as I could until I broke the skin and I tasted blood. I put my hand to my lip and healed it.

I was angry. Angry at myself for falling for Skye (I now knew I had), angry at him for being such an… ass, angry at the Director and the whole freakin' School for taking me and sticking me with that jerk, and angry at my parents for having me. Didn't they even think about the consequences of having a kid? Didn't they even think what it would be like for me? How hard it would be for me?

It was unfair! I hated it. I hated my wings. I hated my parents. I probably would've been better off rotting in the School. Maybe being dead would be better. Hell, it couldn't be any worse than living. It was a nightmare.

No. No. I wasn't going down this easily. I wasn't going to let him break me. He wasn't going to get to me. To hell with him. I'd show him. I'd show everyone. I was Melody Smith, daughter of Iggy and Elisabeth Smith, niece to Fang and _THE _Maximum Ride. I didn't know the meaning of the words 'give up'. I'd been to hell and back. I wasn't going down without a fight. No, even then I wouldn't go down. I was going to win this fight and every other fight I was in.

I sighed and wiped the few remaining tears from my face. I wasn't crying anymore and I didn't feel the least bit angry. What I felt was dead tired and soon I had drifted off into sleep.

**Well, what did you guys think of that? Another filler, but it was still very good. Tons of emotions in there. What will I do with Skye? He's just a trouble maker. Oh well, what can you do? Okay, leave me a nice long review and keep watching for another update. One will be coming soon. Adios! **


	22. Emotional Roller Coaster Ride

**Hey guys! Well, you all were begging for a new chapter, so here it is. I really hope you'll enjoy it. Okay, in this one we go to the flock. Now, I've been getting tons of reviews about how (in my last chapter) you all wanted to inflict bodily harm on Skye for making Mel cry. You guys really shouldn't judge him too harshly. He's gonna get a lot better, I promise. So, I hope you'll give me tons of reviews on this chapter. Read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by the great Madeline Cullen. Thanks for the amazing reviews Maddy! Okay, now you all are probably going to kill me for making you wait so long for this new chapter. Let me just say, that my summer vacation is almost over and that means I'll be posting all the pictures of my characters that I got. If you can draw, I'm begging you to draw some of my characters or maybe a favorite scene. Okay, now it's time for the chapter! Enjoy!**

"Oh, Elisabeth!" Angel exclaimed, pointing at a photo in one of the many albums Iggy and Elisabeth had. "Remember this one?"

Elisabeth took a look at the picture and grinned. It was a picture of her and Iggy at their wedding. "Yeah, I remember. Almost like it was yesterday." She got a dreamy look on her face. "Hmm." she mumbled, lost in thought.

Angel continued to flip through the album and gasped in surprise when she unexpectedly stumbled upon a picture of Melody that Nudge had taken the previous year. It was a picture of Melody, leaning on a tree, wings out, a sad look on her face. It was only one of many that Nudge had taken in a private photo shoot. These pictures were for the flock's (and Dr. Martinez's) eyes only.

"Elisabeth." Angel whispered, tapping her on the shoulder. "Remember this?"

Elisabeth slowly turned to the picture and placed her hand over her mouth. She took a breath and said, "She's always been a beautiful little girl."

Angel nodded in agreement and looked back down at the picture. Such a pretty girl. You couldn't find a sweeter girl than Melody. Why her? Why'd they take her? 'Cause she was part of the flock. That's why.

Suddenly, the front door swung open and Iggy and the Gasman stomped into the house, followed shortly by Max and Fang.

"Nudge is on her way." Max informed them, sitting down in the floor in front of the chair that Angel was curled up in.

"What're you doing?" Iggy asked, sitting down next to Elisabeth, on the foot stool. He felt the book in Elisabeth's lap and smiled. "Pictures huh?"

Gazzy looked over at the album and laughed. "That was one of the best bombs I ever made." The picture he was looking at was at Mel's first birthday, the one with the cake bomb.

Mel was covered in cake, giggling and grinning, her little fists banging on her high chair. Her mouth was open because she had been saying, "Cake go boom! Again! Do it again!"

Max rolled her eyes at that one. "Oh, yeah. The greatest."

Iggy chuckled, "Yeah, well it was." He paused and then said, "Remember the first bomb Mel ever made?"

"Remember it?" Elisabeth asked, making a face. "There are still scorch marks in the garage."

Everyone laughed and then Elisabeth turned to Fang, "What? You aren't going to reminisce with us big bro? Too touchy feely for you?"

Fang shook his head. "Just waiting for Nudge to get here. I got some news." Elisabeth then noticed he was clutching a laptop in his arms.

"What kinda news?" Angel asked, sitting up in her chair.

Max shrugged. "Beats me. He won't say a word about it. Believe me, I've tried."

"How hard?" Iggy asked suggestively, causing Elisabeth to whack him in the back of the head with a chair cushion. "Ow. I have a brain in there you know." he complained, rubbing his head.

"Then why don't you ever use it?" Elisabeth asked, a small smile creeping onto her face. She loved him. Why was beyond her, but she did.

"I do too use it." Iggy retaliated. He decided it was time to change the conversation and said, "So, Angel, you been checking out Mel's dreams?"

Angel nodded. "Of course."

"So, what's she been dreaming about?" Gaz asked, curiously.

"As if I'd tell you guys." Angel told them. "Dreams are private. I don't go around telling yours Gaz. But maybe I should. Goodness knows they'd be something Max would find very… enlightening. "

The Gasman went all red and mumbled, "No need to do anything rash." causing Max to give him a look that plainly said, "Sexist pig". It was clear what Gaz was dreaming about. Who? Well, that was another question entirely.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, when front door opened again and half a minute later they heard Nudge walking into the house.

"I do not recommend flying. The wind is whipping like crazy. I almost slammed into like twenty trees just trying to land. " Nudge informed everyone as she made her way into the living room. She looked like a complete wreck.

Max nodded. "That's why Fang and I took the car."

Nudge flopped down next to Max and squealed, "Oh, you're looking at pictures. I remember this one. That was one of the best ones I've ever taken if I do say so myself. Melody's such a pretty girl. I miss her so much. Why'd those stupid whitecoats have to take her? I hate those stupid as-"

The phone rang loudly, interrupting Nudge's rant. Elisabeth and Iggy groaned at the same exact time. There was only one person that could be.

"Sara Richards." Elisabeth explained as Iggy walked over to the phone. "She constantly calls."

Iggy picked up the phone, irritated. "Hello Sara." he said, pleasantly. It was an act, one that Sara fell for every time. Honestly, that woman was so gullible.

"No, everything's fine." He paused, Sara was obviously telling him something. Iggy looked like he was thinking and then changed his tone. "Listen Sara. I would appreciate it if you stopped calling. We have enough going on without you calling every twenty minutes. We are doing just fine. Good bye Sara." He paused and then said, forcefully, "I said 'Good bye Sara!'." He slammed the phone down.

"I've been wanting to say that to her for ages." Elisabeth exclaimed.

Iggy shrugged. "I know. But, you weren't doing anything about it, so I decided it was time to take action. Hopefully she won't be calling anymore."

Just then the Gasman's cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and rolled his eyes. "Felecia." he said.

He answered the phone. "Hi Felecia." he said, in Melody's voice. "No? Really? She did? He did? They did?" He paused and then stuck out his tongue. "Hey, listen Felecia, I need you to do me a huge favor. Stop calling. I've realized some things." He paused. "Like that you aren't an actual friend to me. " Pause. "Yes I mean that." Another pause. "Yes I will. In fact I have. Bye now."

He hung up and put the phone back in his pocket. Everyone stared at him and he said, "Oh, come on. Don't honestly tell me that you aren't thrilled that I did that. I know Mel will be happy that she'll never have to talk to her again. If she comes back, I mean."

Iggy sighed, thumping Gazzy on the back. "I never liked that girl anyways."

"No." Elisabeth said, shaking her head. "She wasn't good to Mel." She turned to look at Fang, but couldn't see him. He pulled his little 'disappearing act'. "Okay Fang, what's this news you have?"

"Yeah Fang." Nudge said, getting her motor mouth revved up. "You told me this was really important."

Fang reappeared and pulled out the laptop. "Okay, I thought you might find this interesting." He typed a couple things and then turned the computer to face everyone.

They all gasped in shock. On the screen was Melody's blog. They read both posts silently, taking it all in. They were happy. Beyond happy. Ecstatic. This was brilliant. Perfect. They could keep up with Mel. As long as she updated the blog every so often, they'd know she was safe.

"Fang," Elisabeth began, looking at her twin. "this… this is amazing. How'd you think to check the blog?" Then another question popped into her head. "How'd she get a computer?"

Fang smirked. "I sorta gave Jeb the ol' laptop. I figured Mel'd go see him for some advice, so I sent it to him." He shrugged. "Just thought it'd help."

Elisabeth threw her arms around her brother's neck. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." she whispered, tears rolling off her face, falling into her hair and on Fang's shoulder.

Fang awkwardly patted her on the back. He wasn't one for hugging and neither was Elisabeth, but this was too much for her. She had to hug him. It was one of those sporadic occasions when she just spontaneously needed to hug someone.

She pulled back, a little embarrassed. She wasn't used to getting so worked up and emotional, but since Melody had been kidnapped she turned into a whole different person.

"Fang, man." Iggy said. "Thanks so much. This is just…"

Fang gave a quick nod. "I know. She's my niece. You think I ain't worried? I'm scared stiff for her. All those things that could be happening to her right now. She's just a kid." It seemed Fang had become a little more verbal lately.

Max sighed, "Yeah, but Fang, so were we. Those whitecoats don't give a care. But, she'll be fine. We were."

Elisabeth nodded. "Max is right."

Iggy stood up. "I'm gonna make some tea. Elisabeth, come in the kitchen with me." He gave a meaningful glance in her general direction and she slowly stood up, following him to the kitchen.

The flock just left them to it. Oh sure, they were curious and knew it had to be something important and private (otherwise Iggy would've said it in front of everyone), but they thought it was best not to pry.

"What?" Elisabeth asked, as Iggy turned on the stove and began hunting up a pot and some tea bags.

"I'm sorry." he said, clenching his hands into fists and blankly staring ahead. "It's all my fault."

"What is?" Elisabeth asked, her face screwed up in confusion. "What are you going on about?"

"This." he said, turning his head away from her. "Melody getting kidnapped. You being so upset. This emotional train wreck, roller coaster, whatever you want to call it. I caused all of this."

She grabbed his hands. "Are you stupid or something? This isn't your fault. It's the whitecoats. They did this, not you."

He jerked away from her. "Yes it is. If… if I hadn't asked you to marry me… then none of this would've happened. You'd be happier."

"Happier?" she asked incredulously. "Are you insane? Without you, I would be miserable. I love you, you stupid, stupid, idiotic man."

He shook his head. "It was a mistake."

"A mistake? Is that what you think?"

He shook his head. "It's what you think." He turned to her. "I heard you. On our wedding night. Talking to Fang."

Elisabeth threw her hands up in disgust. "I was nervous! I was thinking of how marriage turned out for my mother!"

"Yeah, well it's not turning out so great for you either is it?"

"I love you! What part of that don't you understand?! All families go through some sort of emotional crap! Bills, death,… spilled milk! It's a part of life. I don't regret being with you or having Melody. The eighteen years I've been with you have been the best years of my life."

Iggy scoffed. "That's not saying much, considering the first fourteen years before you met me were spent at the School."

"It's saying a whole hell of a lot. Did you forget everything we've been through? Me being kidnapped? My mother being murdered? You thinking I'd gone over to the dark side? That whole week you wouldn't speak to me? That battle with the Director? Me almost dying twice? Heather and Vanessa for cripes sakes?!" She paused, catching her breath. "If I regretted anything… if I wanted to leave you, I would've done it a long time ago. I'm not one to put up with crap if I don't have to and you know that."

Iggy stood still for a moment, in shock. Then the pot he was holding clattered to the ground as he wrapped his arms around Elisabeth, kissing her in a way that sent shivers up both of their spines.

The Gasman ducked his head into the room. "Oh… sorry." he said, noticing the scene in front of him. "Heard a crash and lotsa shoutin' before that. I'll be going now." He headed back to the living room.

Elisabeth and Iggy didn't even break the kiss.

They continued holding each other, kissing, until they absolutely had to part for air.

Iggy panted heavily. "I'm sorry for all of that. I just…"

Elisabeth put her index finger to his lips, shutting him up. "Think… nothing of it." she said, catching her breath. She smirked and said, "I don't think we have to worry about Mel as much as we have to worry about ourselves."

Iggy grinned and said, "I promise I'll behave myself."

Elisabeth smiled back, getting ready to kiss him again, when Max stormed into the room. "Gazzy said something about you two trying to suck each other's faces off instead of making tea." She surveyed the scene and then said, "Guess he was right."

Iggy let go of Elisabeth and picked up the pot. "Who really wants tea anyhow?" he asked, placing it in the sink.

Max rolled her eyes and they walked into the living room together. The rest of the night, they looked at pictures and discussed the past. Melody would be fine. Angel was watching her, she had the blog, and she wasn't alone.

As Elisabeth said: If anything, they had to worry about themselves.

**Wow. So, did you guys love that or what? I know, I know. I'm amazing. Well, anyway… I'll be updating soon. Posting the character drawings on the 26****th****. See ya.**


	23. Paranoia

**Hey everyone. Did you miss me? Well, I hope so. School is insane. I got a lot of work, but I like all of my classes so far. Creative writing and AP US History especially. Band is great too. I've been having so much fun. I just want to thank so many of you for the reviews, but I'd like to thank one person in particular. Sonya Rivers, you are amazing. I thank you so much for what you say to me on Max-Dan-Wiz. You guys should definitely read her stories. They are amazing. On that note, I also recommend you read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. They are amazing authors and even more amazing supporters. Okay, time for another chapter, finally. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

Flying. My favorite thing to do in the whole world. The wind rushing through my hair, feeling so free, the adrenaline, it was all so amazing. I felt powerful. I'm telling you guys, it's indescribable.

Of course, it gave me a lot of time to think. It's sometimes hard to talk while flying because the wind can drown out your words. The good news was that I was more focused on where we were going than anything. I was anxious to meet this acquaintance of Jeb's. I was also wondering if Tanner would show up. I knew he would, it was just a matter of when.

I had woken up as a totally different person. I had gone out and caught a rabbit for breakfast and didn't say one mean word when Skye said that he wasn't going to eat it. I just shrugged and said, "Okay, more for me and Jewel.". He eventually broke down and ate it and I smiled to myself. He wasn't going to get to me.

I started to wonder where we were, so I signaled to Jewel to fly a little lower so we could check out down below. We were exactly where we were supposed to be, so we signaled up to Skye and descended to earth.

Once on the ground, I checked my watch. Three in the afternoon. That meant we had time for a quick lunch. I suggested it to Jewel and she was all for it, so we walked around until we found a small diner.

We walked in and every head in the place swiveled in our direction. Great. I just loved being the center of attention. Of course Martin, Tennessee had to be a small town. Where else could a contact of Jeb's live? Ooh, I know. How about in a big city where people aren't easily traced?

"What can I do you for sweetie?" the lady at the counter said, smiling real big. She had Dolly Parton like hair, long red nails, and tons of makeup. She was wearing one of those waitress outfits like in the movies and her name tag said: Louise. She did seem nice though, so I used my manners.

"Well, we'll actually eat anything. Could you suggest something? Just no tomatoes please." I told her, sitting down on one of the stools while Jewel hopped next to me and Skye sat next to her.

She smiled. "I'll see what I can do." She thought for a second and said, "How does a turkey sandwich sound? With some lemonade?"

"Sounds good to me. How about two for each of us?" I asked.

She frowned slightly and said, "If you're sure you can eat it."

I nodded. "Trust me, we can and then some."

She laughed and said, "Alrighty then." She turned towards the kitchen and shouted, "Hey Steve! I need six turkey sandwiches hold the tomato!"

I heard a man shout, "Who you feedin' in there Louise?"

Louise shook her head and shouted back, "Just some kids!" She turned back to us and said, "Don't mind him. He's just sore 'cause his wife made him quit smokin'. That and he's just plain nosy."

I nodded politely and took the lemonade she handed to me a minute later. I swirled my straw around the glass for a second before taking a sip. It was good. Nice and cold.

All of a sudden, I felt someone come up behind me and reach their hand around. I whipped my head around and saw that it was just Skye, reaching for a napkin in the dispenser next to me.

I turned around to hide my face, but I noticed Louise smile and wink at me which probably made everything worse.

Soon she brought out our sandwiches and asked, "Mind if I ask where ya'll are from?"

I noticed Jewel and Skye tense up, but I wasn't worried. Besides my mother's good looks and smarts, I also inherited her uncanny ability to be able to come up with a believable story in a split second under any condition.

"We're from Chicago. My dad's here on business." I pointed to Skye and Jewel. "My friends wanted to come and he said it was no problem."

She nodded and said, "'Kay. Just curious." I was on my second sandwich when she asked, "You kids want some pie?"

I shook my head. "No, we can't really afford it." Yeah, I know I had the credit card, but I didn't want to have to use it except for emergencies. As it was, this meal was going to use up the last of the money that Skye stole.

She sat down a piece of cherry pie right in front of me. "Don't worry 'bout it. It's on the house." She then handed me a fork and gave Jewel and Skye some pie too.

I eyed the pie, carefully, but ate it anyhow. I was hungry. That rabbit I had caught earlier was nothing but fur and gristle. Yuck. It was gone in less than five minutes and so were Jewel and Skye's.

"So, how much do we owe you?" I asked, standing up and reaching into my pocket.

She shook her head. "I said it was on the house."

"No." I stated. "You can't let me do that."

She continued to shake her head stubbornly. "I don't want your money. Now, go on. I assume you got places to go."

She headed back towards the kitchen and I slipped a ten dollar bill under my pie plate when I noticed she wasn't looking. She had made a nice offer, a kind gesture, but I couldn't accept it.

I walked out the door followed by Skye and Jewel. I stepped outside, turned around, and saw Skye standing right in front of me.

"What?" I asked, walking backwards.

"You know what." he told me. He looked ticked to say the least. "That woman in there wasn't going to make us pay and you left her ten dollars. We could have used that."

"Well excuse me for having morals Skye." I told him, trying to keep an even temper. "Excuse me for doing the right thing." I whipped around and pulled the piece of paper with the address Jeb gave me on it.

"Whatever Princess." he muttered softly under his breath.

I jerked around fast and yelled, "I heard that!" before turning back around.

Jewel, who was walking next to me, mumbled, "If they fight again, I swear…" so I patted her on the shoulder, assuring her that there would be no fight.

We walked around for a while before I found the right road. We walked a little further along and found the right house. I immediately wished we hadn't. The house was a dump. Paint was peeling off the sides and the gate was broken. The yard wasn't in the best shape either. The grass was brown and in desperate need of trimming and there was an old rusty car parked in front of the house.

We stepped onto the porch and I thought I heard some kind of animal growling under the porch. I didn't know if it was a dog or worse. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Skye shake his head, a disgusted look on his face. I rang the doorbell and heard a crash.

"Crap!" shouted a voice from inside. "Stupid chair!"

I turned to Jewel, unsure of what to do. Should we just run? No, Jeb wouldn't have told me to come see this guy if he couldn't be of some help. Right?

Finally, the door swung open. A man, about my parents age I suppose, opened the door, looking like he had just recently been awoken by… I dunno… three kids ringing his doorbell.

"Hey, who're you kids and what are you doin' here?" he asked, jumpier than my parents. Well, of course if he was a friend of Jeb's he'd have to be at least a little paranoid. If he wasn't, it'd be weird.

"We're friends of Jeb Batchelder." I informed him.

His eyes went wide and he made to shut the door, but I stuck my foot in it. "Oh no. Heck no. No. I am not doing anything else for Jeb. Do you have any idea how many times I've had to move? How many bombs have exploded in my house? How many people have tried to kill me? Whatever it is my answer is: no."

"Listen." I said, pulling on the door. "He just wants you to give us a place to spend the night. We'll be out of here tomorrow."

He looked at me hard. "You one of them bird kids?" he asked, raising his eyebrow.

I nodded. "All three of us are."

He stared at me harder and said, "You look familiar."

I shook my head. "We haven't met."

"No, I mean I've seen your face somewhere before. A long while back ago." He stared off into space, snapped his fingers, and said, "Oh crap. That kid. What was his name? Fang?"

"You know my uncle?" I asked, really wanting to hear this story.

He looked just as confused as I was. "Uncle? He ain't your dad? You look enough like him."

I nodded. "My mom was his twin sister. You probably never met her. My dad… Iggy. You didn't know him did you?"

He frowned. "Iggy? Tall kid? Strawberry blonde hair? Blind right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, that's my dad."

He sighed. "Well, no use standing outside. Come in and shut the door behind you quickly."

We did as he told us and I was disgusted by the inside of the house too. Dirty dishes were on the coffee table, the carpet looked like it hadn't been vacuumed in a long time, and there was trash everywhere.

The guy noted my face. "Excuse me. The maid hasn't dropped by."

I rolled my eyes and sat down on the floor. Jewel sat next to me and Skye just leaned against the wall.

"I guess you should know our names." I told him. "I'm Melody, this is Jewel, and that's Skye."

He nodded and said, "I'm Mike."

I thought the name rang a bell, but I couldn't put my finger on it. "So, how do you know Jeb?" I asked.

Mike sighed and plopped down on the couch. "He contacted me 'bout…" He rubbed his face with his hand. "… I dunno… fourteen years ago. Wanted me to hack… Itex or something. I did and got him a bunch of files. Paid me for it. After that I kept having the oddest things happen to me. Like I said, bombs, death threats, and warnings. I'm schizo, so it made everything worse."

I suddenly knew who this was. "You're the MIT hacker guy the flock met on that subway tunnel. You helped Fang get a message to basically the whole world."

He nodded. "I take it… Fang musta mentioned me to Jeb which is how he found me."

I nodded and took out the laptop. I noticed Mike eyeing me and looked up. "What?"

"Two questions. One: What are you doing? Two: Can I see?"

"A blog and yeah, you can take a look."

He walked over to me and bent over, reading over my shoulder as I typed up a new blog.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Whadda ya mean I'm crazy?"

I shrugged. "Spice up the reading a little."

He looked at me and nodded. "Yeah. Right." He watched a little more and then said, "Pretty sweet computer. Pretty old too though."

"Yeah. It was Fang's. It's hack and track proof."

"Cool." Mike whispered in awe. He then looked up at Skye and Jewel. "Wanna explain how you guys ended up travelin' together? And where are your parents?"

I closed the laptop and said, "I was kidnapped a little over a month ago. Itex. Anyway, Jewel and Skye were my… roommates I guess you'd say. We just busted out."

He nodded again. "These Itex people. What do they do exactly?"

I rolled my eyes. "What don't they do? Graft wings on to poor innocent kids, ruin lives, torture children, and destroy families."

Mike quietly said, "When I was hacking their files for Jeb I saw some pretty sick stuff. I remember something called… the 'E' virus. Can't remember what it did exactly, but it was pretty nasty."

I heard Jewel let out a loud yawn and decided we need to head for bed. Mike led me and Jewel to an empty room and tossed us some covers and pillows. Skye got the couch again.

I was asleep before my head even touched the pillow.

**Yes, I brought Mike the MIT hacker guy into the story. He's my favorite minor character, so deal with it. Since Mel updated her blog, I'm updating the one on Max-Dan-Wiz. Really sorry this took a while to put up. I had some delays. Hope you liked it anyway. Hope to get tons of reviews. Bye.**


	24. Guardian Angel

**Hey guys! Update time. My life is pretty crazy, so it's pretty epic that I actually got time to write this chapter. Okay, so on my last chapter, I only got one review. Thank you Talon666. If I had a cookie, it'd be all yours. Do you all hate Mike the MIT hacker dude or something? Well, don't worry, Mike isn't in this chapter. Next one? Yes. This one? No. Just please leave me some reviews this time. Okay, so on with the usual. Read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. Alrighty then, here we go with my chapter. I really hope you like it.**

I was standing on the edge of a cliff, looking at a river down below, rocking back and forth on my heels. The wind was whipping my long, dark hair all around me, like a… halo. I considered jumping. Why not? It could be fun. A rush. And, heck, while I was at it, maybe I wouldn't open my wings. That could be fun too. To free fall and then hit the icy water with a splash. Maybe I'd die. Hmmm. Maybe I would. I wondered what that would be like.

For some reason, I got the sudden impulse to turn my head. So I did. Angel was standing next to me. Weird. That never happened in this dream before. Usually I just tipped over, fell, and, right before I hit the water, I'd wake up.

"Hello Melody." Angel told me.

That was odd. In every dream I'd ever had no one spoke. Not me or anyone I was with. I didn't pay too much mind to it though. Instead, I spoke.

"Hi Angel." I was a little surprised when the words actually came out of my mouth. Odd.

Angel looked around, a sad and depressed expression etched on her face. "I must say, I never understood why you have this dream. It doesn't seem like you. Too dreary."

Then, we were somewhere else. It was an open field of grass. The sky was blue, not grey as it had been before. Angel and I were sitting down Indian style. I heard birds chirping, but didn't see any around.

Angel smiled. "Much better." She stared at me for a minute and said, "I'm guessing you're confused. You see, I have a new power. I can enter people's dreams."

I nodded my head as if this was the most common thing in the world. Well, it was. In my world anyway.

"How long have you had this power?" I asked, curiously. I always wondered why we got them when we did. It was weird. Like how I discovered my healing powers when I fell out of a tree. Or how I discovered that I could heal other people when my dad was hurt.

"I believe it was the night you escaped." she told me. "I believe it might have been because of that. So I'd have a link to you, no matter where you were. So I'd be able to watch you and know you were safe." She stared blankly ahead and said, "Funny how we discover new powers at times like these."

I nodded in agreement. "Very strange. But, it is a good thing that we do. It helps."

Angel smiled softly. "Yes it does." she whispered. "You remind me of your mother so much. You're as brave as she was. You're a good leader too Mel. Remember that. You will doubt yourself at times. Max did."

I sighed. "I learned from the best. But sometimes…" I stopped. I couldn't find the words.

Angel put her hand on top of mine, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "I know." she whispered. "I know."

"So, how many of my dreams have you been in? Why didn't I know you were there? Why are you just now coming to me?" I asked. So many questions.

Angel smiled. "Every dream you've had since I discovered my power. I was hiding in the background. I didn't want to freak you out. I'm here to give you some advice."

"What kind of advice?" I asked, still unsure that this wasn't some kind of dream. But, then again, stranger things had happened.

"About your friend Skye. And some other things." she answered.

"What about Skye?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. What did Angel know about Skye?

"I know it may not seem like it now, but Skye will prove to be your greatest ally. He may even save your life." she told me, scaring me a little. How did she know this stuff?

"How do you know?" I asked, confused. I didn't know how to take this. Skye? My greatest ally? But he hated me. That much I was sure of. He practically told me himself the other night.

Angel frowned. "I'm not sure. Just a feeling." She studied me and said, "He'll help you find strength in yourself that you are unaware of, that lays dormant inside you."

I felt and shiver go up my spine. This was spooky. I didn't comment on that, but asked another question instead. "And Jewel?"

Angel's face softened. "Jewel will be a great help too. She will help you through your darkest day."

I smiled at that. I knew I liked Jewel. I was glad she'd be there to help me. But I was still confused about Skye. He'd save my life? How?

"Can I trust Jeb? And what about this Mike guy?" I asked. I needed more answers. I was so lost.

Angel frowned. "I am not sure about Jeb. As for Mike, he may be able to help in the end."

I pondered that for a moment and then asked, "And what about Tanner, Willow, and Flint?"

"Willow is troubled. She is confused." Angel said. "I don't know anything about Flint. Nothing is coming."

"And Tanner?" I asked again. I needed to know about him.

"Tanner." Angel whispered, her voice full of horror. "You must be careful. I see much evil in him. He will try and hurt you. In more ways than one."

I took in a shaky breath. _He'd try to hurt me._ That much was obvious. _In more ways than one._ That was the mystery. How exactly would he do it? I wasn't sure I wanted an answer for that one.

"Angel, I'm going to ask you this one more time." I told her. "How do you know this? You aren't psychic are you?"

Angel chuckled. "No. It's just a very strong feeling like I told you before. Who knows? It might be completely wrong."

I let out a sigh of relief. Maybe it would be completely wrong. The part about Skye anyway. I highly doubted Tanner wouldn't hurt me and I knew Jewel would help me in anyway she possibly could.

"Anything else you wanna talk to me about?" I asked her.

She smiled. "Just listen to your heart. It'll let you know what's right."

I nodded. That was the advice a person gave when they didn't know what else to say. Sometimes it helped and sometimes it just made a person more confused than ever. I sincerely hoped it would help me.

Angel and I talked a little longer. She told me how everyone was doing and that they'd all been reading the blog.

But soon, I noticed something about Angel. She looked… almost transparent. When I told her, she looked down at herself.

"Well, that's inconvenient." she muttered, sounding ticked. She looked at me and explained. "I'm starting to fade. This happens all of the time. Nothing to worry about. It just means that one of us is waking up. Unfortunately, I have no idea which one of us it is."

Suddenly, I heard a bang and _poof!_, Angel and my dream were gone. I was laying awake in my head, a startled Jewel next to me.

Outside I heard Mike shout, "What in the hell is going on?" There was a pause, a crash, and then he shouted, "Not the door!"

"Where are the other two?" I heard a male voice ask and a chill went up my spine. I knew that voice. It was Tanner.

**Sorry that was so short guys. It was meant to be. Next chapter will definitely be longer. In case you didn't get it, Melody was having a dream and Angel came to give her advice. Will her predictions come true? We'll just have to see. Remember to review. Peace out.**


	25. Sneak Attack

**Hey all of you totally awesome people! Yes, I am updating early. You may cheer. Everyone was begging me to update after I left you all with a cliffhanger, so I decided to show you all mercy. Aren't I kind? Actually, I think I really wanted to update sooner too. Alright, now time for the usual junk. Read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. They are both truly amazing authors. Well, I suppose I better get on with the chapter. Don't wanna drag that cliffy out any longer. Or maybe I do. Yeah, I do. Okay, I think I'll take pity on all of you now. You're lucky I'm feeling very nice today. Here's Chapter 24 for all of you wonderful people.**

"Mel?" Jewel whispered to me, trying to be as quiet as possible while being heard over all of the yelling. "What're we going to do? We can't just sit here."

Wow. My biggest decision, so far, as leader. "We're going to go out there. See what's up. Kick some butt."

Jewel nodded and we both stood up and walked to the door. I pulled it open slowly and saw Willow and Flint standing behind Tanner with their arms crossed. Skye was standing next to the couch, hands balled into fists. Mike was no where to be seen.

"Ah. Thank you Melody." Tanner said, an evil smirk on his face when he saw me. "I'm glad you decided to make this easy for me."

I folded my arms and let out a hollow laugh. "Oh, is that what you think?" I asked, trying to sound as Max-like as possible. "Try again."

He shook his head. "Melody, Melody, Melody. I told you not to mess with me. Didn't I warn you?" And then he ran straight for me and knocked me backwards into the door.

We wrestled around in the floor. I was trying to strangle him and he was trying to do the same to me. My arms ached and Tanner's face was blood red. Sweat was pouring off both of us as we rolled around in the floor.

Somehow I managed to pin Tanner down and slowly got up, my foot pressed to his chest.

"Hmm." he said, thoughtfully. "Very impressive Melody. I really wish you would reconsider the side you chose."

"No way."

"Have it your way then." He grabbed me by the leg and pulled me down. Then he dragged me into the kitchen, giving me carpet burn as we went into the living room.

Mike's coffee table was broken. Obviously, someone had been body slammed into it, but I couldn't tell who.

Jewel was trying to kick Flint who had her arms pinned behind her back. I was so proud of her for putting up a fight. She was doing much better than I was.

"Melody, I really don't want to hurt you." Tanner told me, yanking me up.

"Well, I really want to hurt you." I told him. Then I kicked him swiftly in the place where the sun don't shine.

He doubled over and winced. "Shoulda seen that one coming."

Before I had a chance to do anything else, Willow and Skye came stumbling in. Willow was punching Skye with one hand and trying to stick a syringe in his arm with the other. Skye was trying to hurt Willow, but she was too fast for him.

As they came closer to us, Tanner stuck out his foot and Skye tripped. Willow seized this opportunity to run over to him before he could get up and I could get to him. She jabbed the syringe in his arm while she held him down with her foot pressed to his chest.

I had been so busy watching that Tanner managed to punch me in the jaw before I could even blink an eye. I went down like a sack of potatoes, my head smacking on the edge of the broken coffee table.

Everything was a little fuzzy from pain, but I could hear Tanner shout, "Let's move! Now! We've done our job!"

I managed to pull myself up and saw Tanner wave at me. "See ya later Melody." he jeered as he took off.

I heard Skye let out a groan and say, "Well that could've gone better."

"It was a sneak attack!" I shouted at him, my head in my hands. That was the most brutal beating I had ever received.

Skye shook his head. "I know Princess." Then he cried out in pain and grasped his arm. "What in the hell was in that thing? Oh God! It frickin' burns!" He was shaking. Definitely not a good sign.

I rushed over to him and grabbed his arm. It looked perfectly fine aside from the site of injection. "Did you see what color the liquid in the syringe was?" I asked him. I'd never admit it, but I was scared to death.

He nodded his head, his teeth clenched. "It was clear." he managed to force out.

"You're sure?" I asked. "It wasn't a light pink or something?"

He shook his head. "Clear."

"Well, most sedatives are clear, but you haven't passed out yet. I don't know what it is, but we'll have to keep an eye on you."

He looked up at me and held my gaze for a second. Then I quickly looked down and took a deep breath. _Save my life? Yeah right. More like me saving his._

I heard another groan and then Jewel said, "I'm fine too. Thanks for asking."

I looked up and saw her staggering over to us from the kitchen. She was all cut up so I figured she was the one who had been body slammed into the coffee table. She sat down next to me silently.

I decided to use the silence to assess my own injuries. I rolled my shoulder, wincing from the pain. Tanner had really jerked me around. My head hurt too. Other than that, I seemed to be fine.

I pulled Jewel's arm towards me and lightly ran my fingers over her cuts with my eyes closed. I opened them and took another look at her injuries. They were gone. I did the same to her other arm and to her face.

"Does it hurt anywhere else?" I asked her.

Jewel shook her head, so I rounded on Skye.

"And you?" I asked.

"Other than the throbbing pain in my arm, I'm fine." he replied, his teeth still clenched tightly.

I nodded. "Okay, we should probably head out ASAP." I informed them, standing up. My legs shook a little, but I managed to keep my balance.

Skye huffed and held out his arm. I tried to hide a grin as I grabbed his arm and pulled him up. When he was at full height our eyes met again and I had to quickly look away before it was too late.

"What the hell?" I heard Mike ask from behind me. He had a confused look on his face.

"Thanks for nothing." I growled hatefully as I pulled Jewel up on her feet. The coward. He hid while we fought for our lives. Although, I doubted Mike could've been any help. Heck, we probably would've had to save him.

"Hey, look." he said, raising up his hands in surrender. "I'm a hacker not a fighter. You said nothing about fighting."

I shook my head, exasperated. "Never mind. The important thing is that we're all safe and sound." Skye snorted so I added, "Well, mostly."

Mike nodded towards Skye. "What's wrong with you kid?" he asked.

"Nothing." Skye said, trying to play off the fact that his arm was red and that he was supporting it with his other arm.

"To heck it's nothing. Anyone can see you're hurt." he said.

Before Skye had a chance to say anything rude I jumped in. "Okay, so he's hurt. We heal fast. He'll be fine in a couple of hours."

Mike shrugged and asked me, "Well what're you guys gonna do now?"

"Yeah Mel." Jewel said, sounding much better than she had earlier. "What are we gonna do?"

I sighed. Why did they have to depend on me for everything? Oh right. Because I was leader that's why. I really had no idea why Skye had wanted to challenge me for the position. I bet, looking at what I was having to do, he was glad that he didn't win that argument.

"I don't know where we're going, but I do know that we're leaving. As soon as we pack." I told them, walking back towards the spare bedroom.

I heard Jewel's footsteps following behind me as I walked down the hall. I walked on the door and sat down on the floor. Jewel sat next to me and we began searching for our things. Once the bag was packed, we left the room and headed for the living room.

I saw Skye pull his hoodie over his head. He looked like he was in a whole lot of pain. I felt a pang of sympathy and wished I could do something for him. But then I remembered what he had said to me not too long ago and I got over the urge to reach out and hug him.

"What?" he asked. I blinked rapidly. "What were you staring at me for?" Oops. I hadn't realized I'd been staring. I must have been really deep in thought.

"I wasn't staring at you." I said, hurriedly. "I was staring off into space. You just happened to be there." I slung the backpack over my shoulder.

"Ok, guys." Jewel said. Jewel. I had forgotten she was there. How could I have forgotten that? "I say we get going. For all we know they could come back."

I nodded. Wait. Wasn't it my job to give orders? I thought I was the leader. I guess that Jewel noticed I was a little out of it and decided someone needed to take charge of the situation.

We headed out without giving a glance to Mike. I highly doubted we would ever see him again, despite what Angel had predicted in my dream.

Hmm. Angel's predictions. That was something else to think and or worry about. How did she know what was going to happen? Then again, she said they might not happen. It was just feelings she had. But, this was Angel we were talking about. Would they really come true. The prediction about Tanner had come true. But then again, I had expected it anyways. I mean, it would have been weird if it didn't.

Even though I was sort of in a trance, I managed to lead Skye and Jewel into an abandoned alleyway and we took off.

When we were up in the air, I heard Skye gasp in pain. He was going to be in for a long flight. According to my watch, it was 9:00 in the morning. I had no idea where we were going or how long it would take to get there. But, Skye would heal, right? Right?

**Well, I hope that makes you guys happy. I had fun writing it. So, what is going to happen next? Ah, a mystery. A mystery that will be solved (well, sort of) next Sunday, on my next update. I know Sunday seems like a long time away, but… who am I kidding? It is a long time away. Well, leave me a nice long review and I'll see you Sunday. And remember to always wash your hands. (From President Obama's latest speech. I had to watch it at school. Long story. I love creative writing class.)**


	26. Skye Is Falling

**Hi everyone. I had the most awesome weekend ever. Six band girls, one living room, Lord of the Rings, and lots of Dr. Pepper at 1:00 AM after a football game = so many laughs. I swear to you we were like, in the words of **_**THE **_**Maximum Ride, 'a band of sugar jacked, sleep deprived chuckleheads'. Well, so Max said 'a flock', but close enough. Well, anyway, time for an update. I am extremely happy that you all loved my last chapter. Starting now big things are going to be happening. I mean majorly huge things. Things you won't believe. I don't want to give away anything just yet though. Okay, read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. Both are great reviewers and supporters of my story. Also, if you are into Twilight, read my story 'Solar Flare'. It's all about that amazingly cute, funny, sweet, loveable, werewolf, Seth Clearwater! So, you should definitely check that out. Okay, on with the story.**

_Everything's going to be just fine Mel. You're worrying over nothing Mel. We heal fast. Skye's going to be back to his old annoying self soon. Everything's fine. Deep breaths. Remain calm._

Those were the thoughts running through my head. Well, okay. So those were only the sort of positive ones.

_He's hurt badly. Really hurt. Something awful is going to happen. He's going to die. It's all my fault. I could've been able to stop it. Maybe I didn't wanna stop it. Maybe I wanted this. No. I… No. Terrible thing to think. Mom I need you._

Those were the… not so positive things I was thinking. And the more I looked over my shoulder at Skye, the worse those thoughts got. I couldn't get him to a hospital. That was not an option. Too much risk. I knew my healing powers weren't strong enough to do much good. If I couldn't properly heal a black eye there was no way I could heal… whatever this was. So, if this was serious, Skye would probably end up dying.

Okay, so yeah. Even after all Skye said to me, all he put me through, I still didn't want him hurt. Okay, maybe hurt, but certainly not dead. That would crush Jewel. Skye was like her older brother. Her best friend. They'd been together for a long time. I couldn't put Jewel through that.

I knew what is was like to lose someone you were close to. I'd been yanked from my parents. Sure, I knew they were alive and vice-versa, but it still hurt that I couldn't be with them.

Suddenly, I got a strange feeling. Something was up. I could sense it. I didn't know what it was and I wasn't too sure I wanted to find out.

Before I could think about turning around, I heard Jewel shriek, "Mel!" I whipped my head around and saw Skye, plummeting towards Earth. It was the scariest sight I'd seen in my whole life and, trust me, I'd seen some pretty scary things in my life.

All of the thoughts I had been thinking earlier were instantly pushed out of my head as I did a nose dive towards Skye. I couldn't let him fall. There was no way I could let that happen. He'd definitely die then.

Jewel saw what I was doing and made a beeline for me. We both grabbed him, saving his life. Naturally, the ingrate didn't thank us. I was about to say something rude when I noticed he was shaking like a leaf and had broken out in a cold sweat. I had to get him on the ground fast.

It was hard, but Jewel and I managed to set Skye down on the ground. Of course, we were hiding in the woods again.

As soon as we laid him down, he rolled over and threw up. I was grossed out at first, but then I looked at the puke. There was a little blood in it. That was not a good sign. Not a good sign at all.

And, for the first time in my entire fourteen years of life, I completely panicked. I had no idea what to do. Skye was rolling on the ground, moaning in pain, tears streaming down his face, shaking, sweating, and I had no idea what to do. I had no idea how to help him. And it scared me. It scared me more than anything.

"Mel?" Jewel asked, breaking the trance I was in. "Mel. Do something. He's going to die. Do something." she pleaded with me, green eyes wide with fear though she tried not to show it.

I looked into those green eyes and almost cried. How did I tell her there was nothing I could do? How did I tell her that I was just going to let it happen? How could I do that to her?

"Jewel," I began, trying to force myself not to cry as Skye writhed around in pain next to me. "I can't… I can't do anything for him." I told her as gently as humanly possible.

Anger shone on her delicate features. "You haven't even tried!" she growled. "You have healing powers. You can't just let him die!" she snapped, tears running down her pale cheeks.

"But Jewel-"

"Try!" she yelled. She took in a few shuddering breaths. "For me. Please? Please?" Her voice got higher and higher with every word. "He's my best friend." she sobbed, breaking my heart.

I sighed. I'd try. For Jewel. I had to. For Jewel. I bent my head towards the ground, thinking. What to do? What to do? What could I possibly do?

I took in a deep breath. "Okay, first we need to pull his shirt off of him." I told her. She nodded and helped me pull him up into a sitting position. He was still shaking like mad. Then we pulled his shirt over his head.

"Now what?" she asked looking at me with a determined look on her face. She wasn't going to let him die. And neither was I.

"Grab a water bottle out of my bag." I told her, pointing to the spot where I had laid the backpack. Jewel nodded and I proceeded to ripping off the sleeves on Skye's shirt. I was going to use them as washcloths to cool him down.

I looked at him, begging the tears to stay inside. I was scared. What if I couldn't save him? What if he died?

_That won't happen. _I told myself forcefully. _I will save him._

Jewel handed me the water bottle and I opened it, pouring water onto the ripped sleeves. When they were good and wet, I wrung them out and set them on Skye's forehead gently.

_Please be okay. _I said to myself, looking into his dark, ocean blue eyes. Would this be the last time I looked into them? No time to think about that. I had to try and save him. I'd worry about other things later.

I took in a deep breath. Now, how to help him? Whatever this was, it was going on inside him. But then again, bruises lay under the skin and I could heal those. Maybe I could heal this. Maybe I could save him.

I did the only thing that made sense. I pressed both of my hands over his heart and closed my eyes as tight as I possibly could.

_He has to be okay. He has to live. He just has to. I'll never forgive myself. I'll be better to him, nicer, even if he's still horrible to me. Let him call me 'Princess' all he wants. I don't care. Just let him live._

I felt a serge of force and Skye stopped shaking. I heard him let out a few sputtered coughs. I had done it. He was okay. I had saved him.

I opened my eyes and Skye was looking at me, dazed and confused. He was breathing heavily, but he seemed fine. He wasn't shaking or sweating or coughing or puking or complaining of pain or anything. He was okay. For the moment anyway.

Jewel threw her arms around me. "Oh thank you Mel! You saved him! I knew you could do it!" she squealed in one breath.

"What did you do?" Skye asked me, startling me. I hadn't expected him to say anything since he had been silent since we left Mike's house. "The pain's gone. Like it was never even there."

I shook my head in disbelief. "I don't know what I did. I just… did it. I don't even know what was wrong with you in the first place." Then I noticed that I was sore all over. Everything was throbbing a little. That must have taken a lot out of me.

He looked at the ground and mumbled, "Yeah… well… thanks… Princess."

I smiled to myself, careful not to let him see. "You're welcome… Sticky Fingers."

"So, now what?" Jewel asked me.

I sighed and looked at Skye's ripped shirt. I tossed it to him. "I suppose we need to go shopping for clothes." I stated, running my hand over my pants pocket where my credit card was. "Just a couple cheap things apiece. Nothing major okay. Couple t-shirts, some jeans, a new pair of shoes."

I looked at Skye, making sure he was fine one more time. He had put his, now sleeveless, shirt on. "But not now. Maybe in an hour. I think Skye needs a little rest and I wanna blog."

Jewel nodded and handed me the backpack. I pulled out the laptop and began typing while Jewel sat down next to Skye and started having a whispered conversation with him.

I caught a few phrases as I typed. "She saved your life." "How'd they find us then?" "How could you think that?!"

They were discussing me. Obviously, Skye still didn't trust me too much. Jewel was trying to convince him otherwise. I sincerely hoped she could. I was tired of the suspicion. I was tired of the fighting. It couldn't go on. One of us had to change. I had a pretty strong feeling who it was too. Me. I'd have to be the bigger person, as usual.

But I'd do it. If only for Jewel, I'd do it.

I looked up and caught Skye studying me. When he noticed that I was looking at him, he shook his head and rolled his eyes at me. I went back to typing.

I had a feeling things were going to be pretty weird around here. Well, weirder than usual. I didn't know what would come. There was only one certainty: We were getting clothes before we did anything else.

What an adventure that would be. Skye, in a store. It was hard to imagine. I, unlike Mom and Max, didn't mind shopping too much. I actually thought it was fun, but I wasn't as crazy as Nudge or even Ella. I wondered if Jewel would like it. Could I handle her if she did?

I felt something in the air. It was change and it was coming for me. It had something big planned for me. What it was, well, I wouldn't find out until it happened. Until then, I'd just have to go along with whatever life threw at me.

**Okay, I hope you all enjoyed that immensely. Things get crazier from here. Change is coming fast. You can't miss my next chapter. It'll be too major. I might be updating again on Wednesday, but I don't know. It all depends. I know how much you guys enjoy these updates and how you can't wait. So, we'll see. See you soon. How soon? Well, that's all up to the world around me. **


	27. Adventures In Shopping

**Hey guys. I've had a very tiring week. School, band craziness, and the general drama. Well, I don't think you guys wanna hear about my week. You guys want me to get to my story. Well, this chapter shouldn't disappoint you. It's a filler, but it sorta sets up some things for my next chapter. It'll be kinda hard to see how, but it does. Okay, so read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. They are excellent stories by excellent authors. Oh, and I want to give a huge thank you to Sonya Rivers. You are amazing and I'm super glad you love my stories. You are officially my biggest fan ever. Congrats. Oh, by the way, I keep forgetting to mention that the pictures of my characters that people drew for me are on my profile if you wanna check them out. Now, you may draw me more pictures if you want, but I won't be announcing them anymore. This is the last I'll ever speak of it, so just remember that. Well, I shall keep you waiting no longer. Here's my new chapter.**

After an hour of flying, we finally landed near a Wal-Mart. Yeah, not as cheap as I would've liked, but it was fine I suppose. Not bad. A little crowded it seemed, but I was used to crowds. Unlike Jewel and Skye.

"Wow. I've never seen so many people." Jewel said in awe.

Skye, of course, said nothing. He just had this paranoid look on his face as usual. I could tell he was really uncomfortable. If it wasn't so sad that a fifteen year old boy who could potentially kill someone with one hand tied behind his back was scared of regular people who couldn't do anything to him it would be hilarious.

I sighed inwardly. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea. But then again we did need new clothes. At the School, we only got two other outfits besides the mandatory scrubs and one of those outfits was pajamas.

We walked inside and went immediately to the clothes section. Okay, so it took a little while to find it and I almost lost Skye in the electronics section, but we eventually got there unscathed.

"Girls first!" Jewel shouted with glee causing several people to stare at us with very disapproving looks. What? Had they never seen scruffy runaway children who desperately needed a bath and a comb before? Seriously people.

Skye let out a huff. "Just hurry." He looked over his shoulder. "I don't like being here. Too many people."

I sighed, but I was used to it. My parents and the flock were the same way. Heck, even Dr. Martinez and Ella had started being paranoid too. I suppose it was from being chased and tied up in closets and whatever else.

"Just keep cool." I told the both of them. "We wanna seem normal. So, just remain calm and blend."

Jewel nodded and Skye simply rolled his eyes. I hoped we could do this. The last thing I needed was a repeat of that morning.

We walked over to a rack of clothes and Jewel started grabbing every cute thing she saw. I decided to keep my mouth shut and just let her do whatever she wanted. I'd remind her that we were on a tight budget later. She needed to be a regular twelve year old for at least an hour.

I managed to grab a couple of things before Jewel dragged me back to a changing room. She tossed all the clothes she had chosen at me and smiled mischievously.

"What are you up to?" I asked, hanging the clothes on the hook. "Why'd you throw all your clothes at me?"

"Most of those aren't mine." she said, grabbing two outfits. "These are the only ones I got for myself. The rest are for you."

Okay, now I really wanted to know what she was up to. "But, I have my clothes here." I said, pointing to the two outfits I picked out.

"I know, but we don't have to get them. Just try them on. I thought it would be fun." Jewel begged. "This is the only time I'll get to have this much fun. Please?"

I sighed and gave in. "Okay, hand me one." What else could I do? I didn't want to spoil her only chance at some regular fun.

Jewel handed me an outfit and I changed into it. It was sparkly white spaghetti strap top and a dark grey mini skirt. I put my jacket on to help hide my wings, much to Jewel's disappointment.

"Jewel, what's the point of all of this? You're the only one who can see me." I was very confused. What in the heck was she up too?

"Well, Skye's outside the door." Jewel said.

I rolled my eyes. "Skye's not going to want to see me Jewel. He doesn't really care about this."

Jewel frowned. "Just this one outfit. Please? Then we can put the rest of this stuff back and just get the clothes we want and can afford. Let's just see what he says. Please?"

I sighed. "Okay, one outfit." I'm telling you, this was really pointless. Jewel wanted to have a fashion show and then her idea of an audience was Skye. And if she was really thrilled that I was going to model for her then why settle for one outfit? Why not make me try all of them on? Oh well.

I didn't have any time to question her reason anyway. Jewel slowly opened the door. Skye was looking down at the ground when we stepped out.

"Oh, good you're done. Let's hurry up and-" He looked up and shut up.

Jewel giggled. "Hey Skye, what do you think of Mel's outfit?"

Skye blinked and then frowned. "Uh… it's okay, but why is she in a skirt? I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but it's not exactly the type of thing you fly or fight in."

Odd. I had been expecting a snide remark. "I'm not getting it. Jewel just wanted me to try it on."

"Well excuse me." Skye replied. "Why do the things you girls do never make any sense?"

"The same reason the things boys do don't." I replied. Is it just me or did that sentence not make any sense? Oh well.

Jewel sighed. "Okay, we can go back in there and you can change Mel."

"Thanks." I said, tugging at my skirt. "I feel weird in this thing." I may like shopping, but I hate skirts and dresses.

We went back to the changing room and I pulled my old clothes back on. Then we took the clothes we wanted out and left the clothes we didn't want in the room.

"Okay, time to get Skye some clothes and then a new pair of shoes each. And then we can leave." I told them.

"Not soon enough." Skye muttered as we headed to the guys section.

Picking out Skye's clothes was way less eventful. He grabbed two shirts and a couple pairs of jeans and we were finished. I was glad guys weren't so picky when it came to clothes.

"Okay, shoes and then we're out of here." I said, one last time.

We walked around for a while looking for the shoe section. Hey, don't act like you've never gotten lost in Wal-Mart before. I'm telling you, that place is like a labyrinth. You go to get a jug of milk, something that should only take ten minutes, and you end up being there for two hours with a cart full of stuff you never knew you needed. I think they do it on purpose.

"Oh finally." I sighed in relief when we turned a corner and were met with a wall of shoes.

Skye picked the first pair of Nike's he saw and said, "Okay, I'm finished. Now why don't you two hurry up."

I rolled my eyes and looked at all of the shoes. Flats, boots, tennis shoes, and sandals. Boots or tennis shoes were my best bet, but all of the boots had heels. Not very practical.

"Perfect." I said, grabbing a pair of knock off black converses. "Only ten dollars too." I tried them on and said, "Okay, I'm finished too."

As I pulled off my shoes and stuck them back in their box I noticed Jewel. She was having a harder time than me or Skye. She was stuck between two pairs of shoes.

"What do you think Mel?" she asked, holding up the shoes.

I sighed and examined the prices. "I'd go with the pink and grey Nike's. They're only fifteen dollars."

"You're right." she said, putting them back in the box.

"So, we can go now right?" Skye asked, relieved.

I shook my head. "We gotta pay first Skye."

We made our way to the self check out line and in a matter of minutes, we were ready to roll. Well, almost. I thought it would be a good idea if we went to change, so I looked for a sales lady.

"Excuse me." I said. "Do you think it would be alright if we changed into these?" I asked, holding up our bags. "I just paid for them and I was just wondering if it'd be alright."

She sighed and, in a bored tone, said, "I suppose. Bathrooms are over there."

I led Skye and Jewel away without even saying thank you. That lady had been very rude.

We changed quickly and walked out of there fast. I thought we looked so much better than when we walked in. We cleaned up in the sinks and I dug a comb out of my backpack.

Jewel was in a white tank top with little pink hearts and yellow lightning bolts all over it, a pair off grey cutoffs, and her new tennis shoes. She had also bought a new light pink jacket. She looked very cute.

Skye had on a plain dark blue t-shirt that really made his eyes pop and a pair of dark jeans. I took one look at him and had to take a few deep breaths before I said a word.

I was in a light grey tank top, with my jacket over it, a pair of snug fitting, light blue jeans, and my awesome, black, knock off converses. I looked pretty good and I was very happy. That is, I was until we walked outside.

We had just exited the store when I heard a couple of guys laughing and joking around. I thought nothing of them, until one of them shouted at me.

"Hey girl! You got a great ass."

I stopped dead and turned around. I could easily pick out the jerk off that said that. He was being elbowed by his friends and he was laughing. He had dark, curly brown hair. He seriously had picked the wrong girl to mess with.

"Hey, her front ain't too bad either." one of his friends said. He had short blonde hair and didn't look too bright. Heck, none of them did come to think of it.

They all wolf whistled and made a couple of sexist comments. I just rolled my eyes, flipped them the bird, and turned around. Jewel and Skye had stopped too and they both looked confused. I just shrugged and started to walk away.

"Ooh. Girl got an attitude. I like that." I heard one of them hiss.

Okay, time for drastic measures. I grabbed Skye's hand and began walking again with Jewel following behind us.

"What are you doing?" Skye whispered angrily.

"This is the only way to get rid of them." I explained. It was a proven fact that if a girl had a boyfriend and she was with said boyfriend when guys were harassing her, they'd stop when they figured it out. Not that Skye was actually my boyfriend. He hated me, remember?

I heard them following us. So much for that brilliant plan. Guess they could tell we were faking.

"Come on girl. Why're you wastin' your time with this guy?" one of them said.

Skye whipped around and glared at them menacingly. I was totally and completely at a loss for words or thoughts. That just took me by surprise.

"If you clowns keep messin' with my girl I'm gonna make sure it's the last thing you ever do." he growled at them, scaring them out of their wits.

"Oh. S… sorry dude." one of them stammered. "We didn't realize. We… don't want no t… trouble."

"Then get lost." Skye growled again. He was even scaring me. I never knew he was so good at acting.

"Yeah. Sure. We're outta here." they said, running off. It took everything in me not to bust out laughing.

When we got safely to the edge of the parking lot I couldn't take it any longer. I just started laughing like a hyena.

"That was awesome." I said. "I never knew you were so good at acting Skye."

He shrugged. "I knew they weren't gonna leave unless I scared them. " He looked at the ground and said, "Couldn't risk them following us and seeing our wings."

Oh. Right. The wings. I almost forgot. How thoughtless of me. "Well, I guess we should take off then."

Skye nodded and Jewel just stared at the two of us. I shook my head and yanked off my jacket, stuffing it in the backpack. It was pretty hot out. Blazing hot.

**Well, that's over. Like I said, it was a filler. Not bad though huh? Things are starting to get pretty interesting. Updating as soon as I can. Later.**


	28. One Confusing Night

**Hey guys. Hope you had a nice weekend. I did. A sleepover, a canceled marching competition, and tons of laughs. It was semi awesome. I wish the competition hadn't been canceled, but apparently it's too dangerous to march in flash floods. Go figure. But anyway, back to the situation at hand. I see a lot of you really enjoyed my last chapter. See? I told you Skye would get better. But… Oh well, you'll find out soon. I was originally not going to do this chapter due to the fact that I thought I would not have any free time whatsoever. Turns out I was wrong. So, that brings me to something today. If I'm ever late posting, don't panic. I'm simply swamped with homework and band. I should have something the next week at the latest. Okay, so read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 (one of my HUGE fans) and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen (another one of my HUGE fans). As always, I hope you really enjoy this chapter. It's pretty intense and emotional and just downright awesome. Or, at least I think so.**

It was night and, you guessed it, I had graciously taken first watch. Trust me, I was not a happy camper. I cannot even begin to tell you how much I wanted to make Skye take first watch and then get some much deserved sleep. But, nope. I had to be a nice person and volunteer to take first watch because of the ordeal Skye had gone through earlier. You know, where he almost died.

It was weird, but he'd been a little different since then. I mean, what he did for me back at that Wal-Mart with those guys. But, then again he hadn't really done it for me. He did it to keep those jerks from finding out about our wings.

I heard an owl hoot in the distance and jumped a mile into the air. Man, I really was starting to get like the Flock. Scared of a little owl. But, wait. Did I hear whimpering?

I turned my head to the direction of the noise and saw Jewel, shaking. I knew she wasn't cold because she was fairly close to the fire. Was she having a nightmare?

"No!" she yelled. Then I heard her crying. "Anything but that. No, no, no." She just kept saying 'no' over and over. Yup. Nightmare.

I rushed over to her and shook her awake. "Jewel, Jewel sweetie." I whispered softly.

At first she looked really freaked out, like she didn't know where she was, but then she laid her head on my shoulder. "Oh, Mel. It was an awful nightmare."

Story of our lives. "I know, I know. But it was just a dream. A dream can't hurt you." I said, telling her the exact same thing my mother had told me when I was small. "Now, do you wanna tell me what happened?"

She took a deep breath and said, "All I can remember is this big, long needle and someone telling me I was going to die."

Oh. So it was all psychological. She was remembering what had happened to Skye earlier that day and the memory had mingled with her own fears. "Oh, Jewel. I know how you feel." I said, reassuring her.

"What?"

I turned around and saw Skye staring at me opened mouth. Okay, now what was he doing?

"What?" he asked again. "What… what right do you have to tell her that?" he asked incredulously.

"What in the heck are you talking about?" I asked. "What did I tell her?" So much for Skye being nice.

"That everything was going to be okay." he informed me. "How can you sit there and tell her a bold faced lie? We're on the run for freakin' cripes sakes. Nothing is okay and nothing is ever going to be okay."

"Look Skye." I growled at him, ticked off. "My parents went through the same exact thing. They're fine. Everything turned out okay for them except for the fact that I got kidnapped."

Skye looked at me like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Of course! Your parents. But not you. What right do you have to tell her you know how she feels? What right do you have to tell her it's gonna be okay?"

"I do know how she feels."

Skye laughed. "No, you think you know how she feels. You don't know what it's like to be tortured day in and day out."

Okay, something was seriously messed up with him. "Oh, I don't know how it feels? I was at the School for an entire month being tortured."

He laughed again. "A whole month. A whole freakin' month. Well, whoop-de-stinkin'-doo for you. Try fifteen years. See how it feels then."

I said nothing. I had nothing to prove to him. All he was doing was trying to look poor and pitiful. Well, I was not going to pity him.

"See?" he asked. "You really don't know anything Mel. You think you've been through the worst. No. I've been through the worst. Jewel's been through the worst. Your parents have been through the worst."

Again, I said absolutely nothing. What did I have to say to him anyways?

"Wanna know why I call you 'Princess'?" he asked. "Hmm Mel? You wanna know?"

I sighed. "Fine. Why Skye? Please tell me. Enlighten me." I said bitterly, sarcastically.

"Because, you lived a sheltered life, away from all the pain your family went through." he began. "Just like a princess, you think you know what everyone around you is going through and you try to sympathize with them. You really actually haven't got a clue."

I'll admit it. What he said hurt me a lot. I swear, I could actually feel tears stinging in my eyes, but I held them back. He couldn't see me break. He wouldn't see me break.

"Notice how you have nothing to say. That's because you know what I'm saying is true." Skye said. "So, once again tell me how you can tell her it's going to be okay."

"Because." I growled. "I have a little something called hope. Ever heard of it Skye? Jewel's just a kid and she needs hope."

For the first time since Skye and I started this lovely discussion, I looked at Jewel. She did not look happy. She was upset that we were fighting again after we promised not to. But, I couldn't help it. Skye was making me so angry.

"Now, let me ask you something Skye." Oh boy was he about to get it. "How can you say I don't know how Jewel feels? You have no idea what my life was like."

"Oh boo hoo." Skye snapped angrily. "It must have been so painful to have a family and friends and decent food and showers and a nice soft bed. Sounds like real torture to me Mel."

Oh. He had done it now. He'd made me so freakin' angry. "You try having your name trashed by your best friend. You try knowing that everyone around you is normal and that you're just a winged freak trying to blend in with them! You try listening to your mother cry in the middle of the night because she just had a nightmare!" I was freakin' seething.

Skye let out another hollow laugh. "Oh yeah. Try having your best friends betray you and then try to kill you. Try being whipped with a bull whip, stabbed with foot long needles, locked up with no food for days, almost electrocuted, and zapped with a flamin' cattle prod!"

That was it. The last straw. I wasn't going to let him do this to me. This was the single dumbest argument I had ever had and I was finished with it. I was finished with Skye. The end.

I stood up. "You know something Skye? You're right. Okay, I have no idea what you're going through. So why don't I do us both a favor and get out of here. Obviously you don't need me."

"No!" Jewel shouted. "Mel, you can't leave. Skye's just upset. Right Skye? Tell her you didn't mean it."

Skye didn't say a word just like I knew he wouldn't. He wasn't going to tell me to stay because he didn't want me to. He hated me and it was just as simple as that. Jewel would just have to learn how to accept it.

"Well, just as I thought." I turned to Jewel and the look on her face nearly brought tears to my eyes. But, there was nothing I could do. I knew when I wasn't wanted and I was not going to force my company one Skye. I'd taught him and Jewel to take care of themselves and that was all they needed.

"I'm sorry Jewel." I told her. I unfurled my wings and took off without even grabbing the backpack. Let Skye have the laptop. I didn't care. I just wanted out of there.

I could hear Jewel yelling at Skye, "Go after her! Stop her!" but I knew he wouldn't. He was probably happy to be rid of me. Well, he was leader just like he wanted to be. He would be the one responsible for Jewel. He'd have to take on Tanner himself.

As for me, well I didn't know where to go. I couldn't go home and without the laptop I didn't have a way to let my parents know I was okay. I was all alone. But maybe being alone was better. I would only have to worry about myself. No one would depend on me.

But being alone was just so… lonely. I had no one to talk to. No one to reassure me. No one to laugh with. No one to share with. No one to care for. No one to care about me.

Suddenly, I felt weak. I didn't think it was possible to go on. So, I found a good sized tree and landed. And, thanks to my terrible luck, it began to sprinkle a little. But, rain was good. I could cry and not have to worry about Jewel chasing after me and seeing the tears. With the rain I could mask the tears if she showed up. So, I let my tears fall.

Not too long after I began crying and the rain had started I heard someone calling my name. A guy's voice. Skye's voice. What was he doing looking for me?

I didn't say anything. Maybe if he didn't find me he'd leave. I didn't want to see him ever again.

But, no such luck. I heard him fly up behind me and then join me on my branch. Might as well see what he wanted.

"What?" I asked, not looking at him, trying to keep my voice steady.

He sighed. "Look Princess, this isn't easy for me to say but… Wait. Are you crying?" I thought I heard humor in his voice. Great. He was going to kick me while I was down.

"No." I said, flatly.

"Then why won't you turn around?" he asked, amusement dripping from his voice.

I knew then I had to turn around, so I did.

"I knew it." he said almost gleefully. "You're actually crying."

"Oh shut up." I muttered darkly. "It's just the rain."

He chuckled. "Yeah. Sure. Whatever you say… Melody."

I turned back around and asked, "What do you want anyway?"

He stopped laughing and said, "Oh. Right." Then he sighed and said, "Jewel begged me to look for you. She really needs you."

Okay, now he made me ticked. I whipped around and smacked him. "What the hell were you thinking?! You left her alone! I didn't even think you were that stupid!"

He massaged his cheek and said, "Relax. We flew up to a cave before she made me look for you. She's perfectly safe. I'm not thoughtless you know."

"You sure act like it." I muttered under my breath. If he heard he didn't say anything.

"I just have one question for you." Skye said after a while.

"And what would that be?" I asked, still angry. I didn't even noticed that it stopped raining.

"Why do you always compare yourself to your family? It's always 'the flock' this and 'the flock' that and 'Max did this' or 'my parents did that'." he said.

I sighed. I didn't feel like telling him to mind his own business. I was too tired to argue. I thought letting my guard down would be a lot less work. "Because I can't do it. I can't be leader. I'm not brave enough and you're right. I have no idea what you and Jewel have gone through. All I have is stories my parents told me. I don't know how to keep Jewel safe. All I know how to do is survive in the middle of nowhere."

Skye said nothing for a minute. When he finally spoke he said, "You are brave Mel. You saved my life. Yeah, I admit it. Without you I'd be dead. We'd still be in the School without you. It's not just Jewel that needs you." He paused and then mumbled quietly, "I need you too."

Wow. He really was a great actor. He really expected me to believe all of that garbage. What did he think? I wasn't born yesterday. I turned my head again. Maybe if I ignored him he'd leave.

Again, no such luck. He just sat there in the silence. He didn't move or speak or even try to drag me back kicking and screaming.

"Just go away." I muttered. I really wanted to be alone. I needed to cry some more. I had just spilled my guts out to him. He just saw me in my weakest moment. He knew I was vulnerable. Even if I wanted to go back I couldn't. He'd hold this over me.

I was just about to tell him to get lost again when I felt his hand cup my chin. Color me confused. He slowly pulled my face around to face him. He then tilted my head back so I was forced to look into his eyes. He looked just as confused as I was.

"What are you doing?" I asked. Why wasn't I pulling away from him? No, better question. Why couldn't I pull away from him? Why couldn't I just knock him out of the tree and laugh as he fell to the ground?

He stared at me for a moment and whispered, "I… really… dunno." He brought his face closer to mine and then placed his lips on my lips.

I know this sounds really cliché, but I felt a jolt of electricity surge through my body. Every nerve ending was on fire and my brain had been disconnected. The only thing I knew was that Skye was kissing me and that it felt right.

I didn't know what to do. This was my first kiss. My first kiss. With Skye. I felt like one of those rag dolls. I just sat there, closed my eyes, and let him kiss me.

Soon, it was over. I looked back into his dark, ocean blue eyes and wondered if he felt that same connection that I had. But, I wasn't going to say anything.

Skye cleared his throat. "Uh… Jewel's probably worried you know. We should head back."

Oh no. He wasn't going to get out of this that easily. "First, tell me what that was." I demanded.

Skye sighed. "Okay, look. I don't even know what that was. So, can we just forget that it ever happened and get out of here?"

That would have been the simple thing to do. But, I'm not simple at all. I realized that I didn't want to forget that. I realized that no matter what I couldn't forget that. It was weird and wonderful and terrifying all at the same time.

"What?" Skye asked, studying my face. "You don't think that was… you don't think I actually…"

I knew what he was trying to say. He was asking me if I thought he loved me. Well, I wasn't so sure that he didn't anymore. Talk about a migraine.

Skye kept staring at me, clearly bewildered. Finally. He groaned, "I told you I don't know what that was. I just sorta… did it. I don't know why." He groaned again. "This sucks."

"What does?" I asked, my heart racing. Oh no. I had known I had fallen hard for Skye, but I never thought I was in love with him before.

Skye shook his head. "I think I do… love you. A lot."

Well, now I was even more confused than before. Not to mention a little offended. "What do you meant that sucks?"

He groaned again. "Because I never wanted to be in love with you. When I first saw you, yeah, I thought you were pretty. And I knew that if I didn't make myself hate you I'd fall in love with you."

So the truth had finally come out. "And why didn't you want to fall in love with me?" I ventured.

He sighed. "You might as well know now that everything else is out." he began. "I thought you'd leave just like Tanner and Willow did. If I loved you and that happened I'd be crushed. It'd be worse than when they betrayed me."

"Well, I never wanted to fall in love with you either." I said bitterly. "You are the world's biggest jerk. I can't stand you! I hate you!" I yelled and then sighed. "No. I don't hate you. I love you." I admitted.

"Really?" Skye asked, unsure of what any of this really meant.

I nodded. "Yeah." I said, surprising myself. "This really does suck."

"You're telling me." Skye muttered. He looked up at me and said, "So. There it is huh."

I nodded. "Yep. There it is."

"So, that's it?" he asked.

I nodded again. "That's it."

He looked at me and said, "We aren't going to get all mushy are we?"

I shook my head. "Definitely not. Jewel's never going to let us hear the end of this."

"I say we don't tell her." Skye said quickly.

I sighed. "We have to eventually." I looked at him and said, "But I don't think I can handle her right now. Let's tell her later."

Skye nodded. "Agreed."

An awkward silence fell between us. This was going to take a lot of getting used to.

"We really should get going now." Skye told me.

I nodded and we took off together. Skye led me to the cave where he and Jewel had relocated and we landed inside.

"Mel!" Jewel exclaimed running over to hug me. "Thank you for coming back. You have no idea how happy I am."

"You're welcome." I told her simply, looking at Skye out of the corners of my eyes. "I'm really sorry though. I was just angry." I told her.

She pulled away and said, "I know. It's okay." Then she frowned. "Hey, why were you gone so long Skye?" she asked curiously.

"Uh… it took me a while to find her." Skye said hurriedly.

She kept frowning and said, "Okay… then. If you say so."

I decided it was high time for Jewel to get some sleep. "Okay, back to bed." I announced. "Skye, it's your turn for watch." I said as flatly as possible.

He simply nodded and walked back to the mouth of the cave. I noticed that he gave me a small smile when Jewel wasn't looking and I returned it, a little surprised.

Jewel looked at me a little confused and said, "Well night Mel."

"Hmm?" I asked, a little shaken up. "Oh yeah. Night Jewel." I found a nice little sleeping place away from her and laid down, waiting for her to sleep so I could talk to Skye about our new found relationship.

What a night.

**So, that's it. Yup. Finally huh? Well, this next chapter is going to be very interesting I assure you. Actually, the next few chapters are going to be very interesting. You guys are gonna learn a lot. Try to see if you can figure out some of the stuff that's going to happen next. It'll be hard, but no harm in guessing. Well, I promise I will update as soon as I can. Bye.**


	29. Watch

**Well, I got a lot of positive feedback on my last update. Told you guys to take it easy on Skye. Now, I will be mentioning some amazing people in this chapter. You'll see how soon. Anyway, back to the usual business. Read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. Awesome stories by awesome authors. You Twilight fans also really need to read my story 'Solar Flare'. It's all about Seth Clearwater and his imprint Erin Morgan. Trust me, it's amazing. Well, time for my new chapter. This one is pretty interesting too.**

Thankfully, I didn't have to wait too long for Jewel to fall asleep. The poor kid was pretty tuckered out and who could really blame her. She had had a rough night. Nightmares and her two best friends getting into a huge, explosive argument are never pleasant things.

However, that argument had turned into something else entirely. I wasn't all too sure about what Skye and I were, but I assure you I was going to find out. I mean, this was my life we were dealing with.

When I was absolutely positive that Jewel was asleep I slowly sat up and reached for the backpack. Not only was I going to have a little chat with Skye, but I needed to blog. It helped me work things out somehow.

I cautiously made my way over to the mouth of the cave where Skye was sitting with his chin resting on his knees. My heart fluttered in my chest as a small gust of wind lifted his white blonde hair. Okay, so I sounded like a total girl but I couldn't help it. Even Max got like this sometimes.

"Hey." I said softly as I sat down next to him. Well, I just certainly was a very verbal person today.

He lifted his head off of his knees and gave me a small smile. "Hey. Jewel asleep?" he asked.

I nodded, stifling the urge to say "duh" and to be all sarcastic. I pulled out the laptop and booted it up. It didn't take long for me to log into the blog and get started on a new post.

"What're you doing?" Skye asked curiously. I noticed he was sitting closer to me and trying to read the computer screen. "A blog about us?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I wanted people to know." I explained. Mostly, this blog was for the flock, but I had been getting some comments from my fans. Yeah, I had a few fans.

"Why does anyone need to know?" he asked, confused. "Shouldn't this just be our business?"

I sighed and saved the blog. "Yeah, but… some people have said some things."

He raised an eyebrow. "What people? What'd they say?"

I sighed again and clicked on a previous blog I posted. I began reading the comments. "From Selene Darkmoon: I should kick Skye's butt for that. You were just trying to be nice to that waitress because she had been nice to you. It's just common courtesy. From Madeline Cullen: Skye is a total jerk." I read a couple more comments and stopped.

"Man." Skye half whispered when I finished. "Was I really that bad?"

I nodded solemnly. "Yeah. You actually made me cry." I confessed. I felt that he should know.

"I did?" he asked shamefully. I nodded and he sighed. "I'm so sorry Mel. But, when did I do that?"

It was my turn to sigh now. "A couple nights ago. Before we got to Mike's."

"Oh." Skye said glumly. "When you stomped off."

"Only because you basically told me you hated me." I said, starting to get a little defensive.

Skye held up his hands. "Okay, okay. I said I was sorry."

"I know." I whispered. "And I accept your apology."

"Good." he told me. "So, anything else you wanna talk about?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm a little confused about what we are exactly. I mean, we have it established that we like each other, but…" I trailed off.

Skye looked confused. "Well, do we really need labels? I mean, I like you and you like me. Isn't that enough?"

I sighed. "It's just that it's traditional to be like boyfriend and girlfriend, but that's not what we are exactly."

Skye rolled his eyes and extended his wings a little bit. "Mel, we have wings. I don't think we're anywhere near traditional."

I chuckled and said, "Good point. Well, that's out the window. Time for ground rules."

"Ground rules?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, stuff that we don't want each other to do. Like, no pet names. I hate those." I told him making a disgusted face.

"So, I can't call you sweetie or honey or baby or sweetheart or anything like that?" he asked, pretending to sound a tad disappointed.

I shook my head. "Nope, nothing like that. Too cutesy. I'm not like that."

"So, Princess is out then huh?" he asked. I think he actually was disappointed about that one.

"No." I told him. "I'm fine with that as long as you don't mean it as an insult anymore."

Skye nodded. "Okay, that's pretty fair. I think I can live with that."

"So, anything you don't want me to do to you?" I asked him.

Skye thought for a second and finally said, "I'm cool with anything as long as you stop calling me Sticky Fingers."

I smirked a little and chuckled. "Okay, I'll stop if you really want me to."

"Good." he said, placing his hand on top of mine.

As soon as he did that one simple thing, I suddenly felt very warm and shivery at the same time. My spine tingled, my heart started beating at a faster pace, my breath became shallow and shaky, and my whole body just froze up. I hoped this wouldn't happen every time he touched me.

"Hey Mel. You okay?" Skye whispered in my ear. He must have noticed my sudden rigidity. He was actually worried about me. Man, this was going to take some major getting used to.

I nodded and continued to stare straight ahead, out into the night. "Just a little sore." I said in a barely audible whisper.

"Wings?" he asked and I nodded slowly. "I can fix that if you want." he whispered softly, making the spine tingling feeling even worse.

I slowly nodded, unsure if him touching me was the best idea in the world. I mean, that sort of was the reason I couldn't move in the first place.

But as soon as his hands, warm despite sitting outside in the cold, touched just below my wings, every muscle in my entire body became completely relaxed. A low moan escaped my lips and I heard Skye let out a brief, amused chuckle. I was slightly embarrassed, but I didn't move or do anything about it. I just let Skye continue to rub my sores away.

Not long after he started, Skye bent his head down and kissed my neck. I felt another shiver go down my spine.

"Skye, please don't." I breathed softly. I couldn't take it. It was just too much.

He immediately stopped everything, his hands resting on my shoulders. "What?" he asked. "What'd I do wrong?"

"I just can't stand it." I told him. I really couldn't stand it anymore.

He let go of me and crept up beside me. "What? What can't you stand? Tell me and I'll never do it again."

"No." I whispered. "Not you. Me." And then, I did something I had been wanting to do since I met Skye. I kissed him.

This time I knew exactly what to do. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer to me. He placed his arms around my middle and we just held each other. I didn't feel like a useless, floppy rag doll. I felt confident.

However, that moment of sheer bliss was immediately squashed by the words, "I knew it!"

Skye and I quickly broke apart and turned around to stare at Jewel. She was standing a few feet behind us, a crooked smile on her face. This was so not the way I wanted her to find out.

I looked up at Skye for a brief second and saw that his face was tinged pink. I tucked my hair behind my ears and said, "Hi Jewel. We were just-"

"Kissing?" she interrupted me. "Mel, I'm twelve not five. Do you think I'm that stupid? It's been obvious to me that you two have liked each other since the second you met."

She really knew more than I gave her credit for. "We were going to tell you. I just didn't know how."

"Did you ever just think to say, 'Hey Jewel, Skye and I like each other and are gonna start making out on watch now'?" Jewel said, reminding me of Max in a way that was really scary.

"Okay, well we like each other and we were not making out on watch." I told her defensively.

She laughed. "Funny. It sure looked like you were eating each other's faces off. Correct me if I'm wrong."

"Jewel, you are getting way outta line." Skye told her, getting an authoritative tone.

"Relax Skye." Jewel said, using a normal non-sarcastic tone. "I'm just messing with you guys."

"Well please don't." I told her, feeling a little angry.

Jewel just shrugged and sat down. "Well, I think you two need to go on a date. We could go to a hotel tomorrow and stay there all day and then later you two could go do something fun. I think I'd be safe in a locked hotel room by myself for a couple hours."

I sighed, feeling totally wiped out. "We'll see. Now it's time to get some sleep Jewel."

Jewel shook her head. "My turn for watch."

"It's three already?" Skye asked incredulously. When Jewel nodded he sighed. "I feel like I haven't gotten any sleep at all."

I shook my head. "That would be because you haven't. So, let's go to bed."

As we retreated into the cave Jewel called after us, "You two behave in there! Don't make me have to separate you!"

I groaned as I laid down. "Remind me to strangle her one day." I told Skye.

Skye sighed and said, "Remind me to help you."

And then we slowly drifted off into an uncomfortable and rather short sleep. We'd be feeling this in the morning.

**Well, I hope you guys liked that. Now Jewel knows. Just a heads up, the next chapter goes to Iggy and Elisabeth. Also, on the blog, the comments left by Selene and Maddy weren't actually anything they said. It was somewhat close, but I tweaked it a little. And, speaking of the blog, I will be posting a new one. The entry will be written when Mel was typing it at the beginning of this chapter, so Jewel has no idea about her and Skye. Hope that clears up some confusion. Read and review. Updating whenever I get a chance.**


	30. Quiet Dinner At Home

**Hey everyone. I'm back with another chapter. So you can jump for joy now. Anyway, I just wanted to thank you all for your excellent reviews. They made my day. Now, as I said before, this chapter is for Elisabeth and Iggy. It's pretty sweet. Now, on to the usual. Read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by the amazing Talon666. Also, read 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. I wish I could write half as well as Maddy. Oh yeah. Twilight fans should really check out my story 'Solar Flare'. It's all about the adorable, sweet, and sensitive Seth Clearwater. Okay, now it's time for this chapter.**

Elisabeth was standing at the kitchen sink, washing dishes. She couldn't explain why, but doing something, anything, made her feel calm. She'd been on edge lately. Melody hadn't updated the blog for a few days. But, then again, could she really expect her daughter to be able to update every single day? Still, she was worried.

Suddenly, she heard a noise. Someone was walking up the driveway. Her heart beat quickened. Since her daughter had been kidnapped she'd been a bit more paranoid than usual, if that was even possible.

She stood there, a soapy pot in her hand, as she heard the front door open and shut. She considered flinging the heavy pot at the intruder in self defense when she saw a familiar strawberry blonde someone duck down to avoid hitting his head on the low entryway.

She breathed a sigh of relief. It was only Iggy. She felt like laughing at herself. How silly of her. She should have known it was only him. This was usually the time he got home from work. She felt ridiculous.

Iggy made his way into the kitchen holding a couple of white plastic bags. "Hey." he muttered bitterly setting them down on the table.

"Rough day?" she asked, drying her hands on a dish towel and walking over to him. She peeked into the bags. "Leftovers?"

He nodded. "It was awful. Two people quit on me and I was under staffed and I had a million orders flying at me all at once. I don't feel like cooking anymore so I just brought some stuff home." He sank into a kitchen chair and ran his fingers through his hair, sighing.

Elisabeth nodded sympathetically. "Hey, as soon as school lets out I'll be able to help you out okay."

"Well, that's great but what am I supposed to do until then?" he barked at her angrily.

"Sorry." she said, drawing back a little. "I was only trying to help. You don't have to be rude."

Iggy groaned. "I know. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. You were just trying to help. It's just that I'm just so frustrated." He groaned again. "It's just so hard. I can't put up with this anymore. It's killing me."

Elisabeth placed her hands on his shoulders. "I know. It's difficult for me too sometimes. All the stress. It's strange, but somehow I feel like running for our lives was so much easier."

Iggy nodded. "That's because it was. We just aren't cut out for being normal no matter how much we want to be. But being on the run was no life. We were so happy to be able to raise Melody in a loving environment. She had a much better life than we did."

Elisabeth sighed. "Did she really? I mean, just think about it. Sure, we were fighting for our lives, but we generally got along. We weren't just friends, we were siblings. We always had someone."

"Mel did too." Iggy pointed out. "She had us and some other friends at school."

Elisabeth nodded. "True, but we're her parents. Grown ups. There's a lot she probably never told us. She probably didn't even confide in Angel about anything, afraid that if she discussed it Angel would tell us. And, as for friends, did she really have any of those either?"

"What about her friend… Cory? He was nice to her right?" Iggy asked. "I know I always liked him."

Elisabeth sighed again. "Yes, but Cory sort of stopped talking to her in middle school. He only started again because of what Felecia did and after the whole thing blew over he stopped again."

Iggy shook his head. "But she was safe. We weren't."

"True. So, I guess it's about even then." Elisabeth observed.

"We tried so hard to make it better." Iggy said, defeated. "Guess it just goes to show that at the end of the day no matter what you do or who you are something bad always happens."

"C'est la vie." Elisabeth said in French. "That's life." she translated when Iggy turned to her with a confused expression.

"Did anyone ever tell you how smart you are?" Iggy asked teasingly.

"Maybe once or twice." Elisabeth said, smirking. "So, which one of is going to heat up dinner?" She had almost forgotten.

Iggy raised his hand. "I guess I'll do it." He lifted himself out of the chair and then frowned. "Hey Elisabeth, did you leave the computer on?"

"Yeah." she said slowly. "Why?"

"I think I just heard it make a noise. You might wanna go check on it." He picked up one of the bags and headed over to the microwave.

Elisabeth, hoping with everything she had in her that this was Melody, rushed into the living room and snatched up the laptop. She carried into the kitchen and sat down at the table. She put her hand on the track pad and gasped at what she saw. Melody had posted a new blog. A surprising one.

"Iggy." she breathed as she read her daughter's latest post. "Mel updated the blog. Oh, you won't believe this."

"What?" Iggy asked, rushing to her side. "Read it to me." It was sometimes hard to remember that he was blind.

She read him the blog quickly, almost in tears over the contents. When she was finished she whispered, "Our baby girl's growing up."

Iggy frowned. "I'm not sure I like this. They're just two kids out in the woods with no supervision."

Elisabeth whacked him upside the head as gently as possible. "So were we. Besides, Melody's smart. She wouldn't get talked into that. If he tries anything she can break his arm in half remember?"

Iggy sighed. "I know, but it's natural for me to be protective. I was a teenage boy once too you know. I know how they think."

"And exactly what were you thinking back then huh?" she asked in mock surprise.

Iggy grinned sheepishly. "Hey, I couldn't help it. Hormones and all that you know. What were you? Some kind of saint? You can't say that you didn't think that way at least once. Remember the night I proposed?"

Elisabeth blushed furiously. "Okay, okay. Point taken. But this is Mel's first relationship. Nothing like that is going to happen."

Iggy rolled his sightless eyes. "Bird kids. They don't need to have many relationships. One was all it took for us and Max and Fang."

"She's fourteen. We were seventeen. End of story." Elisabeth said, closing the subject.

She desperately wanted to give Mel some motherly advice on this subject. She also wanted to meet Skye and have a little chat with him. However, she knew that both of these things were impossible. And then, somehow, thinking about Mel led her to when she herself got kidnapped.

She remembered a file that the whitecoats read to her. It was about her. It had a list of all her powers and such. It also said something that she had often wondered about back then but had finally given up trying to figure out.

The file said that she was separated from Fang when they were almost a year old because they thought it would be dangerous if they were kept together. Why? That had always bothered her.

"What?" Iggy asked her, jerking her out of her thoughts. "What are you thinking about?"

Elisabeth sighed. "I was just thinking about why the whitecoats separated me and Fang. I've never quite figured it out."

Iggy shook his head. "Does it really matter anymore? You've been around each other for the past eighteen years. Apparently there was no reason."

"Yeah, but you've heard of twin telepathy haven't you?." Elisabeth asked.

"Most twins have that Elisabeth. It's just a feeling you get. Nothing major." Iggy told her.

Elisabeth shook her head. "I know that, but we're bird kids. I'm telling you Iggy. There's something that I can't explain. I've always felt it and I'm sure Fang has too. It's getting on my nerves."

Iggy sighed in defeat. "Okay. If you really think there's something up we'll call Fang up later. Angel too. Maybe she can figure it out, whatever it is."

Elisabeth nodded. "Okay. I'll do that this weekend. With school Angel and I are too busy during the week."

Iggy frowned. "Yeah, well I better go reheat our dinner. It's probably cold by now."

"Yeah." Elisabeth said. "I'm pretty hungry."

"Be back in a few minutes." Iggy said, standing up and heading to the microwave.

In no time at all the food was heated and Iggy brought it over to the table. Two slices of his pizza. Nothing could be better. Well, except maybe some of his dessert. Elisabeth was getting hungrier just thinking about his chocolate cake. Talk about a slice of heaven.

"Mmm." Elisabeth said, closing her eyes and savoring it. "Amazing as usual."

"Well thank you." Iggy said, swallowing his last bite. He then yawned and stretched. "After a long day at work I think I'm ready to go to sleep for a year. Maybe longer."

Elisabeth smiled. "Me too. I'm beat." She stood up, picked up their dishes, and set them down in the sink.

Her breath caught her in her throat as Iggy wrapped his arms around her middle. She hadn't heard him get up. He kissed her shoulder gently.

"Love you." he whispered.

"Me too." she replied.

**Okay, so that's it for this chapter. Next chapter we go back to Mel, Jewel, and Skye. I really hoped you enjoyed that. It was so fun to write. Pretty cute, but also pretty short. Next one will most definitely be longer. Promise. Well anyway, I'm updating pretty soon. Bye guys.**


	31. Heart Like Memphis

**Hey guys. I've had a little free time scattered throughout the week, so I did indeed get time to finish and post this chapter. We had a band competition which was a lot of fun and my cousin showed me this site that teaches you how to draw, so maybe I'll have some of my own pictures of my characters up in the future. Okay, well anyway, back to business. I got a lot of good reviews. Some positive feedback and comments on my writing (Thanks Talon666.) made me very happy. In this chapter things get even more interesting. Mel, Skye, and Jewel run into someone and… you'll see. So, read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and be on the lookout for some more fanfics from him. Also, read 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. Both of Maddy's stories are nominees for some fanfiction awards. Alright, without further ado, I give you the latest chapter. Enjoy. I'm sure you'll love it.**

Memphis Tennessee, the River City. This was the place that all of our flying took us. I decided we should stay within the state because I figured Tanner would expect us to get as far away from there as possible and, therefore, would not think to look for us there. Jewel agreed with me right off, but it took a little while to convince Skye. So, after much coaxing on my part, we were there.

We had started walking around the city, looking for a hotel somewhere, when Skye suddenly nudged me in the rib with his elbow. I turned to him and he nodded his head to the left of us.

"What?" I asked, getting a little paranoid. What could Skye possibly have seen? Was it Tanner?

"There's some kid over there staring at you." he informed me. "He just stopped dead and stared at you. It's freaking me out."

I looked in the direction Skye was motioning towards. A kid, a boy from the looks, was standing on the other side of the road. When he caught me looking at him he waved at me furiously. "Melody Smith!" he shouted.

Oh my goodness. Cory Reynolds was just across the road. The Cory I had known since first grade who I had recently found out had a huge crush on me.(Well, actually, my suspicions of the crush had just been confirmed recently.) I was afraid that Skye was going to kill him.

"Who is that?" Skye asked, clearly confused. "Do you know him?"

I noticed Jewel smirking and stammered, "Yeah. He… he's my… Cory. I m… I mean he's my… friend Cory." Real smooth Mel. Nice. You handled that one really well. Terrific.

To make matters worse, Cory was making his way across the street. Huge red flag. What was I going to do? What could I do?

It didn't take long for him to reach me. "Hey Mel. Nice to see you." Cory told me, shaking his dark hair out of his eyes.

"Hey Cory." I mumbled. I looked to Skye. His eyes were locked on Cory. He was probably assessing him as a possible threat. Joy.

"So, what're you doing here?" he asked me, clearly excited to see me and clearly not noticing Jewel or Skye.

Before I could answer, some person shoved past me and knocked me off balance. Cory managed to catch me and help me stand up before I fell. I was grateful, but I was also wishing he had just let me fall.

"Uh… Mel?" he asked after I stared at him stupidly for another minute. "Gonna answer me?"

"Huh?" I asked, shaking my head. "Oh, well…" I needed to come up with a lie fast. "Our school got shut down for a week. Sewage problems. So, Aunt Val drove me and my friends up here to see the sights and have some fun."

"Cool." he said, acknowledging Skye and Jewel. "I'm Cory Reynolds. I've been Mel's friend since elementary school." Then he added, "Hey, Mel, remember that time I beat up those two third graders for messing with you."

I nodded wondering why he brought that up. "Yeah. You got suspended for a week." I had always felt bad about that. I could've handled those clowns myself.

"Hi. I'm Jewel." Jewel spoke up to release some tension. "This is my cousin Skye." Did I mention how much I loved this little girl? She was as good at coming up with stories as I was.

"Nice to meet you." Cory said sweetly to Jewel. He had always been good with kids.

"So, what brings you here?" I asked, striking up a conversation. Anything to keep focus off of me.

"My birthday. Mom pulled me out of school to see Keith Urban in concert." Cory was a huge country music fan.

"Right." It was hard to remember birthdays when I didn't even know what day it was.

Everyone stood silent for a second. It was really awkward. No one quite knew what to say. People kept shoving past us and stepping on us. I finally got sick of it and got an idea.

"Hey Cory." I said, getting his attention. "Can I talk to you for a second? Alone." I stressed that last part for Jewel and Skye.

Cory shrugged and we went off a ways. I turned to him and looked into his familiar, dark brown eyes. It pained me to tell him that I didn't love him back.

"So…" Cory began.

I sighed and jumped in head first. "Felecia told me."

Cory's eyes darted to the ground. "Really?" he asked quietly. I nodded and he mumbled, "I should've known better than to have told her."

I chuckled. "Actually, it's been obvious to me for awhile." I admitted.

"How long's awhile?" he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.

I sighed again. "Since first grade. I mean, why else would you get suspended for me?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I guess." He chuckled nervously.

I kicked the ground with the toe of my shoe. "There's something else you should know." This was going to crush him.

He looked up into my eyes. "You're dating Skye right? He's your boyfriend right?" he asked sadly.

I nodded. "I'm so sorry Cory. If… if I hadn't went to live with Aunt Val then maybe we could've been something. But Skye's just… you know?" I wasn't quite sure how to put this.

He nodded. "I understand. Stupid dream huh?"

I looked at him appalled. "Are you kidding? Cory, you will make some girl very happy someday. You're sweet, funny, you play a mean guitar, you're excellent at baseball, and you care about people. You helped me through some rough times."

"Huh. Yeah, I guess I did." He sighed. "Maybe you're right. Maybe I will find someone just as great as you someday."

I shook my head. "She'll be better." I told him.

He sighed and I could tell he didn't quite believe that, but he didn't want to argue with me. "So, I guess this is it then."

"No." I told him. "I wanted to say something else."

"What?" he asked curiously.

"You have always been and always will be my best friend in the world. Not Felecia. When I was feeling sad I always called you. Even when we weren't hanging out if you noticed I was upset you'd talk to me. I do love you Cory Reynolds. It's just a different kind of love."

At this he hugged me tightly. "You're my best friend too." he whispered in my ear. "As long as you're happy, I'm okay. I'm just glad you love me, even if it's not quite the way I want. I'm fine. Just remember that I'm always here. All you have to do is pick up a phone."

I felt like I was going to cry. "I know. I know." I whispered. I was afraid to let go of him.

We held on for a second longer and then pulled apart. "Bye." I whispered, wishing things weren't the way they were.

"Good bye Melody." He started to turn around and walk off, but stopped. "Hey Mel. Skye's a lucky guy. I hope he knows that."

I nodded. "He does. And I hope whoever you end up realizes she's a lucky girl."

He just nodded. "Well, I hope we see each other again one day."

"I hope we do too." I said, turning around and walking off. Oh God I hoped we would. I never realized how much I'd miss someone that was not in my family.

As I walked away, I could've sworn I faintly heard someone humming 'Heart Like Memphis' by the Carter Twins. It was a song that Cory had played for me back in sixth grade. I began humming it too as I walked along.

"So, you okay?" Skye asked me when I got back to him and Jewel. "What happened?"

I breathed in and said, "Well what was said is between me and Cory, but everything will be okay."

Skye nodded and we started walking again. Soon, Jewel asked, "He loves you doesn't he? Cory loves you, right Mel?"

I sighed and nodded. "Yeah, he does. And I love him… in a way." I looked to Skye, who seemed to be okay with this. "He said you're a lucky guy Skye."

Skye grabbed my hand and laced my fingers with his. "Yeah, I am."

We walked around for a little while longer before we stumbled across a Holiday Inn. We walked inside and went up to the front desk.

"How may I help you?" the manager asked, eyeing us suspiciously. He looked very prim and proper and was probably a clean freak.

"I was wondering if we could have a room." I told him. "Just for the night. We'd be leaving in the afternoon."

He looked at me for a minute and then said, "Well I'm sorry but I cannot just give a room to three minors. I'd need to speak with your parents."

Well, crap. I guess Jewel's plan of forcing me and Skye on an 'actual' date had been foiled. Just as I was about to turn around, Skye slipped the guy a fifty dollar bill. Where had he gotten that from?

"One room coming up." the manager said in a much more upbeat tone. He turned around and typed some things into a computer. He then turned around and handed me three room keys. "Room 401 is open. Enjoy your stay."

"Thanks." I muttered. Looked like Jewel's plan was back on.

As the three of us piled into the elevator I whispered to Skye, "Where'd you get that money from?"

"The guy who knocked you over. I figured he owed us." Skye smirked.

It took all my strength not to crack a smile. "Well, I don't approve of your methods, but they are effective." I told him. He just smiled.

We went up to our room and Jewel immediately flopped down on the bed. "No watch tonight." she said with delight.

I smiled. "No, no watch. However, I think we need baths." I tossed the bag in the floor and then sat on the edge of Jewel's bed. Skye sat next to me.

Jewel smiled. "Yeah, especially you and Skye. You two have a date tonight." she said in a sing-song voice.

Skye grimaced. "I was hoping you'd forgotten."

I pretended to look offended. "What, you don't wanna go out with me?"

"No, I just don't want to 'go out'." Skye said hurriedly. "People make me nervous."

I put my hand on his and squeezed. "I'll help you."

"Fine." he gave in. "But one hint of trouble and we take off into the skies and come back here. Deal?"

I rolled my eyes. "Deal."

**Well, that's the end of this chapter. I thought it was sort of cute. A filler, but a good chapter nonetheless. I have no clue when I'll get to update again, but you can be sure Mel and Skye's date is going to be full of surprises. Well, I'll catch you guys later. Don't forget to review.**


	32. A Walk Through The City

**Well guys, I hope you thought my last chapter was awesome. It was pretty fun to write and who knows, maybe Cory will play a major role later on. Hmm. Well I might have said a little too much. Anyway, this chapter is sort of cool. Nothing really happens but you guys will find out some things about Skye and the School. Okay, so back to the usual. Read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. So, I guess this little note is done and I should be getting on with the chapter. So, I'll do that. Right now. Okay, well here it is. Finally. I hope you love it. Enjoy.**

Getting ready for my date with Skye was a pain in the butt. Jewel tried to pick out my outfit and everything. You'd think that the fact that I only had two outfits would sort of make things easier, but no. She finally let me get away with my light snug jeans (after a quick wash) and my new light purple t-shirt. Do you know how long it took for her to decide that? An hour. Jewel was on my case until Skye managed to grab my hand and jerk me out of the door.

"Ugh." I groaned when we got in the elevator. "Just kill me now. End my suffering."

Skye chuckled. "Relax Mel. We're going to be away from Jewel for a while. Just you and me. Peaceful."

I nodded, feeling heat rise into my cheeks. I'd never been on an actual date before and I wasn't sure of what to expect. It didn't help matters that Skye wasn't experienced with this sort of thing either. At least I had friends who went on dates, watched movies about romance, and read books. Skye had nothing. Nada. Zippo. Zilch.

We left the hotel, hand in hand, and made our way onto the streets. We had no idea where we were going, so we picked a random direction and kept walking in it. I watched other couples walking around us and suddenly felt weird.

"What?" Skye asked, noticing my uncomfortableness. "What's the matter with you?"

I sighed and turned my head a little. "I guess this is just weird. Me and you. No fighting. Just being nice. Holding hands. Going on a date. It's… odd. That's all." I told him, shrugging my shoulders slightly. I didn't want him to think too much of it.

"So, what? You want me to go back to being a jerk?" Skye asked, confused.

"No." I said hurriedly. "I never said that. I just said this is weird. We didn't even get along until yesterday and now we're going on a date."

Skye sighed and shook his head. "It's like I told you before Mel. I've loved you since I met you. I just convinced myself that I didn't. I didn't want to admit to myself that I loved you and then have you taken away from me. I thought you'd join the Director."

I nodded. "It's perfectly understandable." I told him. "But I have a question for you Skye. I mean, if you don't mind answering."

"Shoot." Skye said casually.

"Why do you hate the Director so much?" I asked him carefully. "I mean, no offense, but you seem like the kind of person who would jump at the chance to have the privileges that come with working for her. I mean, especially if your best friend joined up too."

He sighed. "It's okay." He stopped walking for a second, looked at me, started walking again, and then began explaining.

"Have you noticed that at the School none of the children younger than five have a room?" I nodded. "Well, that's because one of the whitecoats take them in so the School doesn't get in any legal trouble. Well, when I was first brought to the School and had wings grafted on me the Director chose me to stay with her."

"Really?" I asked incredulously. I wouldn't think she'd take anyone in. I supposed it made sense that she kept calling Skye into her office to try and get him to join her. She must have had a reason for picking him though I couldn't figure out what that reason might be.

He nodded solemnly. "Yeah. She took great care of me from what I remember. I was just like a regular kid except that I had wings and had to come to the School for tests and junk. I even called her 'Mom'." he admitted glumly.

I squeezed his hand tighter. "That's rough Skye." I guess that I really didn't have it as bad as he did.

He kissed my cheek. "It's not your fault." He sighed again and then said, "Well when I turned five I had to start living at the School. I didn't think it would be so bad." He shook his head. "Boy was I wrong." He laughed hollowly.

"I had to go through a physical test." he told me. "It was brutal. I cried and screamed for the Director to help me but she just shook her head and left the room. That was when I knew that it was all a lie. She never cared."

"And then you met Tanner." I supplied.

Skye nodded. "We were in the same room. A couple months later Willow came and then a few years later Jewel joined us. Jewel slept in the room across the hall. You can pretty much figure out the rest for yourself."

We went silent after that, neither knowing what to really say.

Man. That was some heavy stuff. I never thought much about what Skye had gone through before I was kidnapped. I should've realized that something in Skye's past would have led him to acting the way he had been around me.

"Mel?" Skye asked after awhile. "I just thought of something."

"Hmm?" I asked. "What'd you think of?"

He smirked. "Well, how's Jewel supposed to know that we actually went on this 'date'? What if we just went flying instead and called that a date? Wouldn't that be fun?"

I grinned. "Sorry Skye. Somehow Jewel would find out. I know she would. She's not stupid you know."

"I never said she was." He looked at me and the sighed. "Okay. I must be crazy for agreeing to go through with this, but I will." He shook his head. "So, what're we supposed to do on a date?"

I laughed, almost forgetting that he'd never really been out of the School. "Uh, well usually, a couple will go somewhere to eat and just sit and talk. Sometimes they just walk around or go to a movie."

Skye made a face. "Sorry, but that stuff sounds boring. I mean, how are we supposed to talk in a movie theatre?"

I tried to stifle a laugh and thought, _Well, usually couples are too busy kissing during a movie to do anything else._

"What?" Skye asked curiously. "What're you laughing about Princess?"

I felt myself blush a little bit when he called me that. "Nothing Skye, nothing." I chuckled, shaking my head.

He rolled his eyes, dropped my hand, wrapped his arm around my waist, and pulled me close to his side. "I love you so much." he whispered in my ear. "I have no idea why, but I do."

I smiled and kissed his cheek which I noticed was a bit fuzzy. Someone was going to need a shave soon. "I love you too… Sticky Fingers."

Skye pulled his head away to look at me. "Hey. I thought you promised you wouldn't call me that."

I giggled. "Sorry. Couldn't resist." I then kicked him in the back of the leg.

Skye just shook his head and smiled at me.

We walked a little farther on when Skye spoke up again. "So, what're we going to do Mel? It doesn't matter to me. I'm up for whatever you wanna do." He seemed a little unsure despite what he said.

"I don't know Skye." I whined playfully. There was so much to do. I hadn't actually thought about what we'd do. I blame my lousy planning skills. Oh, wait. Nope. Scratch that. I blame the fact that I never wanted to go on a date in the first place. Dates were for regular kids, not mutants.

We walked around a little more when I noticed a huge building with a flashing neon light. A roller skating rink. It sounded very promising.

"Hey, how about we go roller skating?" I asked, pointing to the building.

Skye grimaced. "Really? It looks like a lot of people are going in there. Besides I don't know how to skate."

There was no way he was getting out of this one so easily. "Oh relax. You'll be fine. You only have to talk to me. And, as for the skating, I can teach you. It's not that hard."

He sighed, thinking it over. "Oh Mel. I don't know." he mumbled.

"Oh please?" I begged, giving him the Bambi eyes. "Come on Skye. For me?" My lower lip quivered.

"Oh no." Skye moaned, closing his eyes. "Not the Bambi eyes _and _the lower lip thing." He opened his eyes and sighed. "Fine. You win. We'll go skating."

"I thought you might say that." I said, smiling softly.

We headed over to the rink a little reluctant on Skye's part and a little excited on my part. I hadn't been skating in forever. Something told me I'd never forget my first date. Call it a hunch.

**Well, that's the end. Yeah, sorry guys. The next chapter is definitely going to be Mel and Skye's date though. It is going to be a pretty interesting chapter indeed. It's coming up real soon. Next week. I promise. Right on time. Well, see you guys later. Leave me a nice long review and tell me what you think.**


	33. An Unforgettable First Date

**Hey everyone. I'm super glad that you all liked my last chapter. I'm also super glad that I got so many amazing reviews. Well, I have some news. I'm going to be putting up my Harry Potter fanfiction soon, though I'm not exactly set on a date. It might not be for a few months, but I am working on it. It's called 'It Takes Two' (title subject to change) and is about the Weasley twins and a girl by the name of Alyssa Jones (her name might change too). The full summary is on my profile. Please send me any ideas you have or any title suggestions. Anyway, read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. With that being said, I give you my next chapter. I really hope you like this and, yes, this is the date. You may squeal as loudly as you please here. Okay, here's the chapter.**

As soon as we walked in that skating rink I should've grabbed Skye and turned right around. But I didn't. I should've known that this date would go south. I mean, practically everything else did for us. But did I listen to the little voice nagging me in the back of my head, telling me that this was a terrible idea? No. Because I'm stupid, I pushed forward through the crowd and paid for me and Skye to get in.

Skye was glued to me like a three year old to his mother from the moment we entered the building.

"It's okay." I told him as we were handed our skates. "Everything will be just fine. I promise."

Skye sighed. "I know Mel, but I have this weird feeling. I don't know what it is, but it makes me wonder if this was such a good idea after all."

I stupidly ignored him and sat down on the nearest bench to lace up my skates. Skye sat down next to me and in a matter of seconds we were ready to roll.

Skye stood up, wobbled a bit, and fell down. I had to giggle at him, but I still helped him up.

"You gotta learn to balance." I said, holding him up.

I could see people staring at us, and I suppose Skye noticed too because he said, "Why are they staring?"

I chuckled. "Because, it's usually the dude teaching the girl how to skate. They think it's strange and oddly hilarious at the same time."

Skye sighed. "So, how am I supposed to stay balanced?"

"Just pretend you're flying." I whispered in his ear.

"You're sure it'll work?" he asked.

I nodded. "It helped me. I'm gonna let go now okay?"

Skye nodded back, so I let go. This time he managed to stay upright and not do a face plant on the hard floor.

I clapped. "Yay!" I cheered, teasingly. "Now, let's see if you can skate." I began skating and shouted back at him, "Come on slow poke! Catch up!"

Skye looked uneasy at first, but began to chase after me. Pretty soon he caught up to me, so I decided to do something else. I began skating backwards.

"Let's see you do that!" I told him.

People had started to watch us, clearly interested. When Skye began skating backwards, a few people cheered for him (mostly girls I noticed).

We continued to play this little game for a while when Skye skated up next to me and said, "How about taking a break? I'm kinda hungry."

I was getting hungry too, but I didn't want to say anything unless Skye did first. It was something Max had taught me. Leaders were always the last to break.

"Yeah, okay let's head over to the snack bar and get some food." I agreed.

We skated over to the edge of the rink and made our way through the large crowd that had gathered to watch us. I figured they were all disappointed that Skye and I stopped because several people groaned and a few followed us.

We both got two slices of pizza and a coke and sat down in a booth. I was getting uncomfortable with all of the people staring at us. It was driving me bonkers. Didn't these people have anything better to do? Finally, when I couldn't stand it anymore, I pulled a total Max.

"Take a picture. It'll last longer." I snapped at them. When they didn't budge, I growled, "I mean it. Scram."

All but one of them hightailed it away from us. A girl with long blonde hair was left standing next to our table, making googly eyes at Skye.

After a minute of her just standing there, Skye said, "Uh… hi?"

The girl giggled and said "Hi." back. She totally reminded me of Felecia. She even sort of looked like her, but if this really was my 'friend' she would have noticed me and said something.

"What do you want?" I asked, not even trying to be nice. I knew what she wanted: my boyfriend or whatever Skye actually was.

She gave me an evil glare and flipped her long hair. She turned to Skye, ignoring me. "I saw you skating. You're really good for a beginner." she said in a sugar-coated, sickly sweet voice that made me want to hurl. She was a total Felecia. I loathed her.

"Uh… thanks." Skye said uncertainly. The poor guy. He had no idea what was going on.

She smiled at him. "Well, I was just wondering. There's going to be a couple's skate in a little while and I wanted to ask if you'd like to skate with me." She ran her tongue over her bottom lip purposefully. She wasn't going to give up until Skye went with her.

Skye shook his head. "Thanks for the offer, but I already have someone to skate with." He placed his hand on top of mine. Okay, maybe he knew exactly what she was doing.

She frowned. "Oh. It's just you two looked more like friends. I assumed that's what you were."

"Yeah, well you shouldn't assume things. It just makes an ass out of you and me." Another total Max-like remark. I was on a roll.

Before she could say a word, a guy walked up to her. "Come on babe." he told her, grabbing her arm. "Time to go."

Skye and I tried to stifle a laugh as she walked off with the dude who was apparently her boyfriend. If only the guy knew. I mean, I suppose I could've told him, but that wouldn't have been very nice of me. The poor girl would've been without a boyfriend if I had done that.

Skye and I finished off our food in silence, laughing about what had just happened without actually laughing at all.

Suddenly, there came an announcement over a loudspeaker. "Alright it's time for a couple's skate. If you don't have a partner then get off the floor. We're staring in two minutes so find that special someone and make your way to the rink."

Skye grinned. "Wanna skate?" he asked me, standing up.

"Hmm?" I pretended to think for a second. "Sure." I laughed. "Why not? It could be fun."

We made our way back through the massive crowd and held hands and skated together as the lights dimmed and a slow song played.

_What day is it_

_And in what month_

_This clock never seemed so alive_

_I can't keep up_

_And I can't back down_

_I've been losing so much time_

"Hey, I know this song." I whispered. "My parents love this one." I said to Skye. "I sort of love it too."

Skye looked at me like I was crazy or something. I just shrugged and began singing along in my head.

_All of the things that I want to say_

_Just aren't coming out right_

_I'm tripping on words_

_You got my head spinning_

_I don't know where to go from here_

That sounded about right. What was going on with me and Skye? Where would we be five years from now? Five days from now? Five minutes from now? I wondered if Skye and I would last. Out on the run, on our own nothing was certain. I didn't even know if we'd be alive in the morning.

The song ended and Skye and I skated over to the edge of the rink. I checked my watch. It was almost midnight. We'd been out later than I thought.

"Guess we better head out huh?" Skye asked, noticing my face.

I nodded, unlacing my skates. "Yeah, it's late and Jewel's probably worried sick by now."

Skye took off his skates and then we went to exchange them for our shoes. We walked out onto the streets and began walking in the direction of the hotel. It was going to be a long walk.

Before we even got a quarter of the way there, Skye whispered, "Why don't we just fly back? We can take off in an alley and land a few feet away from the hotel."

I was so tired that I didn't use my common sense and just nodded in agreement. That had been a huge mistake.

We turned into the alley and unfurled our wings. Just as we were about to take off, I heard someone behind us. Oh no. We'd been spotted. To add to my stupidity, instead of taking off I turned around.

"Willow?" I asked, immediately recognizing her.

Skye tensed up next to me. His fists were clenched and his jaw was locked tight. He was ready to protect me.

"How sweet." Willow jeered. "A cute couple finishing up their date. So very touching."

"What're you doing here?" I asked angrily.

"I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd drop by." she said, grinning evilly.

"How'd you find us?" Skye asked.

Willow walked forward a little. "Not important." she said. "What is important is that you two are about to die. Kinda like Romeo and Juliet. Tragic lovers and all that jazz."

I was about to laugh at that (She actually thought she could kill us by herself?) when I noticed something about her that was different.

"Skye, do those look like claws to you?" I asked him, backing up a few paces.

"Claws?" Skye asked also backing up. "I'm looking at her fangs. Do you not see them?"

I looked closely and she did indeed have fangs. What was this? A bad horror movie?

Before I could even act, Willow lunged at me. I quickly threw my arms up to shield myself and closed my eyes. The next thing I heard was Willow falling onto the asphalt.

I opened my eyes and Skye was staring at Willow, who was rubbing her head. I was so confused that it was not even the least bit funny.

"What just happened?" I asked Skye.

"I have no idea." he whispered looking as shocked as I felt.

Willow stood up. "I don't know what that was, but I assure you that it's not going to happen again." Without warning she swiped her hand at me, but was stopped in mid air.

I looked at Skye. Suddenly I knew what was going on. It all made perfect sense. It was also totally awesome.

"Skye, you have a power." I told him while Willow was trying to figure out what was going on. "You can make a force field."

"Is that what I'm doing?" he asked and I nodded in response.

Willow shook her head and growled. "Well, this has all been very interesting, but I'm through playing. Try not to make too much of a mess when I kill you."

Just as she was about to do something, I heard a loud beeping noise and Willow looked exasperated.

"Are you kidding me?" she asked, looking at the sky. "I almost had them and then Tanner wants me to come back." She turned to us. "You just got very lucky. Next time I will kill you." She then took off leaving me and Skye in a state of confusion, disbelief, and immense relief.

"Come on." I said. "We gotta get back to the hotel. Something could've happened to Jewel." Then I got an idea. "But first we're making a pit stop."

"A pit stop?" Skye asked me incredulously. "We can't afford to make a pit stop Princess." he told me, reverting back to his old ways slightly.

I nodded. "But we also can't afford not to."

Skye opened his mouth to argue, but looked at me and shut it. After a second he said, "Okay, where are we going?"

"Any kind of small store. I need supplies." I told him, checking my pocket for the small plastic card that helped to keep us alive.

"Supplies?" Skye asked. "May I ask for what?"

I sighed. "You'll see when we get back to the hotel. I promise. It'll help some. Or, it should."

Skye simply nodded and we took off in silence.

I hoped I could do this. It would take a lot of work, but if I was anything like my father then this would be a little piece of cake. I certainly hoped it would work.

**Wow. What a first date huh? Well, next chapter is sort of going to veer off from Mel, Skye, and Jewel. However, it's not going to go to the Flock either. It's going to go to Tanner and the other bad guys. Should be interesting right? Oh, I don't own the song 'You and Me' by Lifehouse. So, leave me a nice review. Updating next week if I'm sane enough. I'll explain later. Bye guys.**


	34. Dreams and Schemes

**Hey guys. It turns out I am san enough to write this chapter. Marching season is over and I'm pretty sad about that, but it's not like I'm never going to see my awesome band people again. There's still concert band season and I might have other classes with them. My favorite freshman, who I shall call Chocolate Chip, and her friends, Coleslaw and Pookie (Please don't ask. Band nicknames are weird.), have wrangled me into going to Chocolate Chip's house and playing random music at random times to take the place of band. So, yeah. I still have that. Anyway, on to the subject of this chapter. As I said before, this is a bad guy chapter. Some very interesting things are revealed. Oh yeah, I need to ask you all a favor. I need you guys to give me directions on how to make a smoke bomb or stink bomb. Nothing too major. I really don't want anyone in trouble. You don't have to go into much detail. You can just give me a list of the basic things that are needed if you want. Just make it simple. You see, my mom won't let me look up this stuff even though I told her it was for fanfictional purposes. Not even a stink bomb. Mothers. Oh well. As usual, read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. They are AMAZING people. You guys rock! Okay, on with this chapter. I'm sure you'll like it or at least you won't loathe it anyway. Enjoy.**

Willow tapped her foot anxiously. She was waiting outside the Director's office with Flint. Tanner was having a discussion with the Director about her. She was terrified though she'd never show it to anyone.

She looked to Flint, who was glaring at her angrily. "You've done it now." he muttered darkly. "Can't follow the rules for a second."

Willow turned away from him. Flint barely talked, but when he did it was never a very good thing. The boy was strange, that was for sure.

The Director's door swung open at that exact moment. Willow could see Tanner staring at her, disappointed. She felt terrible. She had only went after Melody and Skye to make him happy. He had been worrying about them constantly. She thought he would be so happy to see them dead.

Tanner just glared at her. She walked forward, the Director coming into view. Willow never knew someone's mouth could get so thin. Dr. Mason was not in a very good mood.

"What were you thinking when you went after Melody and Skye?" the Director asked her, cutting to the chase.

Willow turned to Tanner, hoping for some reassurance, but there was none. She took in a deep breath. "I was thinking I could finish off Melody and Skye all by myself."

Before the Director could say anything, Tanner jumped in. "You idiot." he snarled at her. "It's Jewel and Skye that need to be eliminated. Melody has to stay alive. I have plans for her."

Those words broke Willow's heart. Willow was in love with Tanner. She knew he didn't love her back though. He was infatuated with Melody. That was another reason Willow had gone after them. She had hoped that once Melody was dead, Tanner would love her instead. It probably would have worked if it hadn't have been for Skye's new power.

"Yes… well." the Director said, looking at Tanner. "I haven't actually given you permission to enact these plans Tanner. After what happened tonight, I'm not so sure that I should. If you can't keep your team under control how can I expect you to keep Melody under control?"

"Tanner didn't know about this." Willow said, rescuing him. "It was all my idea. I swear."

The Director sighed. "Alright, if this was all your idea, then you wouldn't mind explaining would you?"

Willow sucked in a breath. "I… I… I just wanted to get rid of them myself. I got the Tracker to locate them and then I went after them. That's all."

"And what exactly happened?" the Director asked.

Willow looked at Tanner again, feeling nervous. He didn't even look at her. She sucked in another breath. "I followed Melody and Skye into an alleyway in downtown Memphis."

"What were they doing there?" the Director asked. "Where was Jewel?"

"Melody and Skye were on a… date. They left Jewel somewhere I guess." Willow told them.

Tanner squeezed his hands into tight fists at his sides. Even in the dim light, you could tell his knuckles were white. He was not happy about this.

"A date?" the Director mused. "Wait, the 'E' virus hasn't affected Skye yet? Are you sure you injected it in him properly?"

Willow nodded. "Exactly like you told me to. I guess Melody must have stronger healing powers than we thought."

The Director nodded absently. "Well, that shouldn't matter. It's probably only delayed the process. If someone gets him mad enough then he should still morph."

Tanner groaned. "Well, that's all very well and good, but what about Willow's screw up?"

Willow sighed and finished her story. "I almost had them when Skye developed a power out of the blue."

"A power?" the Director asked. "That shouldn't have happened. I watched his development very closely. No powers were programmed into him."

"Well, he has one. He can create a small force field it looks like." Willow told them, feeling slightly proud of herself. Sure, she hadn't managed to destroy Melody or Skye, but she had managed to find out some useful information.

The Director stared into space for a minute. Then she said, "Yes. Well Tanner, we will discuss your plans for Melody in the morning. I should have a decision by then. You both are dismissed."

Tanner and Willow nodded and began to walk out the door.

However, the Director stopped them by saying, "Oh, and send me Cory. I need to have a word with our Tracker."

Tanner and Willow nodded again and shut the door behind them. As soon as they were into the hall, Tanner slapped Willow hard right across her face.

Willow staggered back few paces. Tanner hadn't really hurt her. The emotional pain was greater than the physical pain. How she loved him and how he ignored her, as if she didn't even exist. Making Melody come on to their side was much more important to him.

"That was the stupidest thing you could've done!" Tanner shouted at her. "Didn't I tell you specifically not to do anything? Didn't I tell you I'd take care of it?"

"But… I just… wanted to h-help you. You s-seemed so… distracted. I just th-thought I could h-help." Willow stammered.

"Well, there's the problem: You thought! I told you that I had a plan." Tanner growled at her.

Willow blinked a few times. "Yeah, but you said you hadn't quite finished it. You said there was still a minor detail you needed to take care of."

Tanner looked like he was going to shout at her again, but then a smile crept on his lips. "Your screw up gave me a brilliant idea, Willow. I know exactly how to get Melody totally on our side. I don't know why I didn't think of it before."

"What is it?" Willow asked, a little surprised.

Tanner grinned devilishly. "Let's just say that it involves Skye."

Willow knew better than to question him. That would be a grievous error on her part. It would be even worse than what she had just done. Much, much worse.

They walked along the hall, heading to their room, when they passed someone. It was Cory, the Tracker that the Director had ordered them to send to her immediately.

"The Director wants you." Tanner told him absently. He looked like he was thinking of how to set his plan into full swing. If the Director would let him go through with it anyway.

"Why?" the dark headed boy asked curiously.

"Probably for helping this one." Tanner said, jerking his thumb in Willow's direction. "You better get down there now before she gets any angrier."

Cory gulped and walked down the hall, looking as pale as a ghost. Willow sort of felt bad for him. It was her fault he was in trouble anyway. But that was how it went at the School. Only the strong survived. Cory was weak. He had proved that time and time again. He had allowed himself to fall in love with Melody.

See, Cory had been assigned the task of keeping tabs on Melody throughout her childhood. He was a Tracker and had been assigned the task at birth. There had been rumors floating around that Iggy and Elisabeth, former experiments at the School who were part of the infamous Flock, had had a child. When the Director caught word of this, she personally made sure that Cory would be ready for her.

When Cory was five years old, he was sent out to find her. Willow didn't exactly know how he did this, no one really did. All anyone knew was that he located her and the whitecoat who had been assigned to take care of him moved them close to her and pretended to be his mother. No one ever suspected. Melody and Cory became friends as the Director had planned and he watched her every move, reporting on her frequently.

However, it had soon become apparent after a while that Cory had begun to develop feelings for Melody. He had been ordered to keep away from her as much as possible and, as far as everyone knew, he did so.

Willow walked through her bedroom door and sat down on her bed. She felt miserable. Flint kept glaring at her and muttering "idiot" even when he knew she was looking. Tanner probably hated her guts. But, what did that matter? He was in love with Melody anyways.

How Willow hated Melody. She was so freaking perfect. She was pretty and smart. Boys loved her. Tanner, Skye, Cory, and probably even random guys on the street. It made Willow so sick. She wanted to rip out her throat. She wanted her dead.

She began getting angry. She felt her claws extend out of her fingertips and dig into her hands. She felt the fangs jut out of her mouth. She began shaking. No. She had to keep calm. She wasn't supposed to morph unless necessary. She took a few deep breaths and felt her claws and fangs retract. Better.

Willow looked over to Tanner. He was muttering things under his breath that Willow, even with her heightened hearing, couldn't make out.

She wondered what this 'plan' of his was. She knew that he didn't want Melody dead. He wanted her to join them, though how he expected to convince her to do so was a complete mystery.

Why did Tanner want Melody on their side anyway? She was now obsolete due to the 'E' virus that all of the Director's personal helpers had been injected with. It made no sense. The Director had explained that due to Melody's genetics the 'E' virus wouldn't work on her if injected anyway. That had been why they injected it into Skye. So, just what was Tanner planning on doing with Melody if he somehow convinced her to join them?

Willow worried until morning. She lie awake all night, tossing and turning. She saw Tanner get up to go and speak to the Director. She silently hoped that the Director would shoot down his plan, whatever it was. If she did, then maybe Tanner would let her kill Melody. And maybe if she succeeded he would love her.

However, there was no such luck. Tanner came back with a smile on his face an hour later. All he said was, "She approved it. I'm going to get Melody. My plan is about to go into full swing. Just a couple more days."

"Why can't we do it now?" Flint asked.

"Because I want Melody and Skye to have a little time to themselves. Make them think they're safe. Then I'll strike."

Willow felt a sudden chill go up her spine. This was not going to go well. She could sense that something very wrong would happen. But, she held her tongue and let the man that she loved who would never love her back have his moment of triumph.

**Good huh? Told you guys it was going to be interesting. You learned a lot in this chapter. I hope you guys really enjoyed this. It took me ages to figure out what would exactly happen in this chapter, but I think I did pretty well. I count this as a major success. Leave me a nice review. Updating next week. See you guys then.**


	35. Bombs

**Hey guys. I've been feeling pretty sick this whole week. Sore throat and all that lovely stuff. Anyway, I would like to thank Sonya Rivers and Madeline Cullen for that favor they did for me. Thanks guys. Now, what about that last chapter? Pretty surprising huh? I do try. Well, there is a little something interesting in this chapter too. I don't want to reveal anything though. It's probably not going to be very long. This is really just a filler with a cool little twist. Okay, way too much info. Read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. Excellent stories by amazing authors. Okay, now we're going to get onto my next chapter. I really hope you all enjoy this chapter. It's pretty awesome. **

Skye and I picked up all the things I needed and we headed back to the hotel as fast as we could. It only took about ten minutes to get there and two minutes to get to our room.

When we were in front of our door, I pulled my key card out of my pocket. I was about to unlock the door, when Skye grabbed my arm. I looked up at him.

"You're sure you don't want to tell me what all of that stuff is for?" Skye asked curiously.

He'd been asking for ages what I was going to do with all the stuff I bought. I didn't want to worry him so I told him that he'd see in due time. Well, that went over like a ton of bricks.

I nodded. "You'll see." I heard him sigh behind me as I unlocked the door.

I opened the door barely a crack and then shoved the key card into my pocket. When I pushed open the door I looked up and got the shock of my life.

Jewel was lying on the bed, watching TV with the remote _floating _in mid air next to her. I dropped my bags on the ground and she looked up.

"Oh, hi guys." she said as calmly as could be. "I didn't hear you come in." From the way she talked you'd think that remotes just hovered beside little girls all of the time.

Skye and I stepped into the room and shut the door behind us. Needless to say, the two of us couldn't even begin to ask what in the heck was going on.

"Wha-" was all I could manage to get out of my mouth. My hand was pointing at the remote and I was dumbfounded.

Jewel looked at me, confused for a minute. Then she got a look of comprehension on her face and the remote landed gently beside her. "Sorry about that. Didn't mean to freak you out."

_Little too late for that, Jewel. _I thought to myself, still not sure of what had just happened. Until Jewel opened her mouth I could've written off what I'd see as too much stress. I mean, me and Skye did almost have a fight to the death with Willow.

"Care to explain?" Skye asked, finding his voice.

I needed to sit down, so I did. Right down in the floor. I didn't even care that it had hurt when I landed on the ground. Skye sat down next to me and the two of us looked at Jewel.

"Well, it's pretty simple." Jewel began. "I was looking for the remote when it just came to me. I've tried moving other things, but they apparently can't be any heavier than that coffee table."

"You have telekinesis?" I asked, amazed.

"She has what?" Skye asked me. "You can't be speaking English."

I sighed, a little annoyed with my supposed boyfriend. "I am speaking English. Telekinesis is the psychic ability to make objects float with your mind. It's actually pretty awesome."

"Oh." Skye said like he knew what I was talking about all along. "Now you're making some sense."

"Oh, Skye." Jewel said. "I wonder if you'll get a power."

"I already have one." Skye told her nonchalantly. You'd think he was talking about the weather rather than a new, cool mutant ability.

Jewel's emerald green eyes popped out of her head. "Are you serious?" she asked. "Why didn't you tell me? What is it? Why are you back so late?" She was like Nudge on a sugar rush.

"Calm down." I told her quietly. "I'll tell you if you take some deep breaths and calm down."

Jewel breathed in and out a couple of times and then said, "So, tell me. I'm calm now."

I sighed. "Okay. Skye can generate force fields. I have no idea how big they can get."

"Really?" Jewel asked. "That's freakin' amazing."

Skye nodded smugly. "Well of course it's amazing." he said. "It is my power after all."

I rolled my eyes at him. I loved him so much, but he was just so impossible. What was I going to do with him? I needed to deflate his overly enlarged ego and bring him off his little golden pedestal.

"How'd you find out?" Jewel asked. "And, by the way, how did your date go?" She batted her dark eyelashes which made me giggle a little bit.

"Well, we went roller skating." I told her. "It was pretty fun. We had some pizza, Skye fell down, and I totally beat him at every race we had."

Jewel giggled and Skye grunted and muttered, "You never told me that you were that good. You just said you did it a couple of times before."

"Anyway, we left and decided that since it was so late we'd fly back." I said, going back to the story. "We went into an alley and ran into Willow. She tried to kill us, but we managed to hold her off until Tanner paged her. She got angry and then took off."

Jewel nodded understandingly. Then she pointed to the bags I had brought in. "So, what's that stuff for?"

"Yeah." Skye said, rounding on me. "What is that stuff for? I've been asking you since we went into that store."

I sighed and dragged one of the bags close to me. I began pulling out the contents while Jewel and Skye sat around me, looking both confused and excited. A bag of balloons, garlic, vinegar, salt, sugar, fertilizer, a small skillet, aluminum foil, dried peppers, two boxes of Ziploc baggies, some measuring spoons, and ethyl alcohol.

"I'm making some bombs." I explained, giving them some pity.

Skye looked at me incredulously. "And how are you supposed to make them with all of this junk?" He waved his arms around, indicating the stuff I had bought.

"Hey." I told him, getting a tad bit defensive. "My dad and the Gasman could make actual explosives out of nothing but toothpaste, a shoelace, and some foam rubber. All I'm making is some smoke bombs, stink bombs, and tear gas."

"Well excuse me." Skye said sarcastically. What was with him? Oh. He had actually thought that I wanted him to revert back to his old ways. I'd just have to fix that.

I sighed heavily. "Fine. Just forget it." I began to pack away the things, looking at the ground.

Even though we were in front of Jewel I felt two fingers gently brush under my chin and then lift it up. Before I knew it, I was lost in Skye's ocean blue eyes. He was apologizing silently. I smiled softly and I guess he took that as a silent acceptation of his apology. We took the few things I had gotten in the bag back out.

Am I good or what?

"So, how is this supposed to work?" Jewel asked, getting our attention refocused. "And why fertilizer?" she asked, wrinkling her nose.

"Well, the fertilizer has potassium nitrate in it. That's used in most explosives." I explained. "You see, when I combine the sugar and the potassium nitrate it should make an excellent smoke bomb."

"Uh huh." Skye said slowly.

"You have no idea what I just said, do you?" I asked him.

"Not a clue." he admitted. "English please."

"Fertilizer." I indicated the bag. "Plus sugar." I pointed to the sugar. "Together makes a lot of smoke." I said as slowly as humanly possible.

"Oh." Skye nodded. "And that helps how?"

I sighed. "You'll see Skye. I promise."

I went right to work with a little help from Jewel and Skye. It didn't take long until I had everything except the tear gas ready.

"So, are you sure this stuff won't expire?" Skye asked, still pinching his nose.

I nodded. "Positive."

"And why didn't we make the tear gas again?" Jewel asked curiously.

"We have to make sure it's contained properly and I didn't want to take any chances." I explained.

"And what are we going to do with the leftover stuff?" Skye asked.

"Pack it into these Ziploc baggies for next time." I told them.

We began to do that too. It took way longer than making the bombs because I didn't want to spill anything. It would have been such a waste. Finally, however, we were finished and ready for bed.

"I got first watch." I told them. "We leave at around nine. We can't stick around here anymore. They keep finding us somehow."

"I wonder how?" Jewel asked curiously.

Skye shrugged. "It's a mystery, but not one that's going to be solved tonight. Go on to bed kiddo." he told Jewel.

She stared at us for a minute, grinned to herself, and crawled into the bed I would be sharing with her. She even made sure to face the wall.

I giggled. "You need to get some sleep too Skye. You really need it."

He nodded. "Yeah. I suppose I do. But, I realized something." he told me, coming closer.

"What?" I asked, feeling goosebumps crawl up my arms and noticing my heart was beating extremely fast.

"I haven't kissed you today." he whispered in my ear.

I shivered. "Guess you should fix that huh?" I asked.

He pressed his lips on mine for a few seconds. It wasn't long, but it was still wonderful.

"Okay, now I can get some sleep." he told me after we had pulled apart. "Remember," he said, crawling into his bed, "I've got second watch."

I nodded. "I know. I won't forget."

He turned away from me and I pulled out the laptop. This was all definitely going in the blog. My fans needed to know what happened.

**Well, that's it for this chapter. The next one is coming up soon. See you guys then.**


	36. Down Time

**Well, I have terrible news. I've been sick for over a week and my hearing is almost gone. I had been dizzy for a few days, but that went away. Notice I said DIZZY and not DITZY. (Stupid Jim-Bob. Long story.) The good news is that I decided to update early just in case anything happened to me over the weekend. Anyhow, I suppose you all would very much like for me to get on my next chapter. I think I would very much like that too. Originally, I had intended this chapter to go somewhere else entirely, but I think it fits here. You'll see why in a couple of chapters. It just flows. So, read my story 'Solar Flare' and be on the lookout for my story 'It Takes Two'. I still have no idea when I am posting this story, but it will be sometime in the next couple of months. It'll be up by March anyway. Depends on if I'm delayed. So, it should be going up between December and March. Sure, I'll go with that. Oh yeah, please read 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen (I so owe Maddy.) and 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 (Hopefully he will get to posting again soon.). Now, time for my random outburst of the day. WATCH OUT FOR TRAFFIC CONES POOKIE! Yeah, that's a total band thing haha. I miss marching season. Pookie won't be in concert band. He decided to take stupid music theory instead. If he had taken concert band like he was supposed to, I'd have two classes with him next semester: Concert band and French 2. But no. He apparently hates me and several other people who wanted him in concert band, so I have to get help from him in French 2 at lunch. Thanks a lot Pookie. Oh, right. Fanfiction. So, let me get to that now. Heh heh. Oh boy.**

"Are we there _yet_?" Jewel asked me for the millionth time.

She had been asking me that for about two hours. Yeah, we had left the hotel and were flying around. Let me tell you, it is not a picnic trying to figure out where in the heck you are going with a twelve year old whining at you while your 'boyfriend' just shrugs and tells you to ignore her. (I now see why Max complains about the Flock a lot.)

"No, we aren't there yet." I told Jewel through gritted teeth. "And if you don't pipe down, we are never going to get there."

"How do you know we aren't there yet if you have no idea where we're headed?" Jewel asked me huffily. When had she gotten this attitude?

"She has a point Mel." Skye said.

I smacked myself in the face and mumbled, in complete disgust, "So not helping Skye."

"Well, I was just saying." Skye said defensively. "You don't have to get all snippy with me."

I sighed. "Fine. We're here. Happy?" I asked, turning my wings a hair. "Let's just get down on the ground."

Where had we ended up exactly? Good question. I had absolutely no clue what state we were even in. West Virginia maybe? Ohio? Does it really matter? I stopped simply because there was a forest with a small creek. Okay, I confess that I also stopped to get Jewel off of my back. Happy?

As soon as we landed, I began silently setting up camp all by myself. I made our fire pit and moved around various rocks for us to sit on. I then grabbed a very large stick and pulled out my pocketknife. I was going to make a spear to hunt with. Primitive, I know, but it was effective.

"Need any help?"

I looked up to see Skye standing in front of me with an arm behind his back. He had on a genuine smile, something I was still getting use to seeing on him.

I, however, was not in a very smiley mood. I grumbled, "No. I can do this myself thank you very much. I am perfectly capable of getting our food myself.", while I finished sharpening the point.

"I never said you weren't." Skye said hurriedly. "I just thought you might like company when you go hunting."

"It kinda scares the animals away." I told him, standing up. "Besides, you don't have a spear."

He pulled his hand out from behind his back. He was clutching a spear very similar to mine. Maybe even better than mine. When did he make that? I must've been out of it.

"How'd you make that?" I asked, not knowing what else to say.

Skye smirked, obviously happy with my shock. He pulled a pocketknife out of his back pocket. "You think you're the only one who can nick things from unsuspecting idiots?" he asked me. "I stole it from Mike." he informed me, sticking it back in his pocket.

I had to chuckle at that. The boy was catching on very quickly. "All right, you can come if you keep quiet." I told him.

So, Skye and I went off to get breakfast, (Or lunch. Brunch?) leaving Jewel to herself. I sincerely hoped she would have a better attitude when we got back. I hated being mad at her.

Skye and I walked around the woods for a while before we stumbled across a rabbit. I didn't particularly enjoy the idea of killing and eating a cute, fuzzy bunny rabbit, but I was hungry and we didn't have any other choice.

I signaled for Skye to be quiet and, keeping almost perfectly still, I threw my spear at the bunny. Bulls-eye! I had hit it, but I hadn't killed it. I walked over to it, picked it up, whispered an apology to the poor frightened creature, and snapped its neck. I felt awful, but it had to be done.

We walked along a little further, when we spotted a turkey. A freaking wild turkey! I let Skye have the honors of killing that. I also let him have the honor of carrying it and then letting him gut it later.

"Hey Mel?" Skye asked as we walked back to camp. "Since we're two percent bird, is eating this turkey considered cannibalism?"

I chuckled. "Uh… I don't think so. We only have the internal structure and wings of a bird."

Skye nodded and we walked back to camp, laughing all the way. It was nice. I felt like I was back home.

I will spare you the grisly details of how we skinned, plucked, gutted, and cooked our food. Let's just say, it made Jewel happy again. I think it was seeing Skye's face when I told him he had to stick his hand inside the turkey and rip out its entrails.

When we finished eating, I thought it would be a good idea for us to wash off. That, however, didn't go as planned.

Jewel whispered something to Skye, causing him to laugh and nod his head. He then walked over to me. I'm telling you, I should've seen this coming.

"Hey Mel." Skye said, acting as innocent as possible.

"What?" I asked suspiciously.

"Well, I agree with your idea of washing off." he told me.

"Ok…"

"So, let me help you." Before I knew what was happening, Skye had picked me up and was walking over to the creek.

"What in the hell are you…" I trailed off as I realized. "Skye, I will kill you. I swear."

"No you won't."

"Yes I will." I struggled to get free. "Put me down now." Too late did I realize what a poor choice of words that had been.

"Whatever you say, Princess." he told me, dropping me in the creek.

I fell in with a _splash _and managed to sit up, sputtering. I looked up through my wet hair and saw Skye doubled over, laughing at me. Jewel was also laughing at my misfortune. Well, I'd fix Skye.

I wiped my hair out of my face and wrapped my arms around Skye's legs causing him to fall into the water with me.

It was my turn to laugh. "Oh." I cried. "You look…" I was laughing too hard to speak and tears were streaming out of my eyes.

"Think that's funny do you?" Skye asked cockily. "Well, then you'll think this is hysterical." He began splashing me.

"Stop it!" I yelled when the water hit my face. He kept splashing me, making me mad. However, after a while the water stopped in mid air whenever he splashed. It just wouldn't hit me anymore.

Thinking I knew what this meant, I looked at the water and thought hard about splashing Skye. I watched as the water rose up and hit him in the face. I could control water.

Skye must have realized this too because he said, "Oh no fair. You get a really powerful ability. There's water in practically everything!"

"What?" Jewel asked, running over to us curiously. "Mel got a new power? What is it?"

"She can control water now." Skye said sulkily. "That just sucks. That just really sucks."

I shook my head. "Skye, just because there's water in almost everything doesn't mean I can control it. I think our powers have limitations. Like how Jewel can't pick up anything heavier than a coffee table with her mind."

"Really?" Jewel asked. "You mean you can't control, like, ice or anything? Just water in its liquid form?"

I shrugged. "Maybe. And maybe I can't control it if it isn't pure water. Like if it's a mud puddle I wouldn't be able to control it, but if it was a river I could. I think it also depends on how much I can lift. Water is heavy when there's a lot of it."

"So, you think there are limits on all of our powers?" Skye asked. "What would those be?"

I sighed, trying to think. "Like maybe your force fields can only be so big." I told him. "I also don't think you can protect more than one person at a time, including yourself."

Skye nodded and then said, "And what about your powers? What are their limitations?"

"Well, I already said what I think about my new one." I told him. "As for my healing powers, well, I'm not really sure. Before I saved your life I thought I could only heal minor injuries."

I paused and thought about when I saved Skye. I remembered how I felt afterwards. Drained, weak, tired. And then it hit me.

"Whenever I heal a major injury, like whatever was going on with Skye, I take some of the damage. After I healed Skye I was really tired and weak and in pain."

Skye's eyes went wide. "You never mentioned that you were in pain after you healed me." he said. "Why didn't you say something?"

I sighed. "I didn't want you all to worry about me. I was more concerned with you Skye."

Skye opened his mouth to say something and then closed it again as if he thought it was a bad idea to speak.

We all sat in silence for a minute before Jewel said, "Uh… guys? You're still sitting in the creek. Don't you think you should dry off?"

Skye and I stood up automatically. I hadn't realized where we were sitting. I was in too much shock over my new power. I pulled my clothes out of our backpack and then let Skye get his.

I walked into the woods and changed behind a tree. It was out of my cute, light, tight fitting jeans and into my looser, darker ones. I also had to put on my gray spaghetti strap top and dig around for my old purple jacket.

When I was dressed, I walked back over to Jewel and Skye, who was already changed, and noticed that my shoes squished every time I took a step. Lovely.

"So, now what?" Skye asked me.

I shrugged. "We can do anything we want. We're safe."

"For now." Jewel muttered.

At those words I felt a sudden and rather harsh change in the air. I had this nagging feeling that something terrible was going to happen. But I was being ridiculous. Right?

**Ooh. What's going to happen next? I hoped you like Mel's new power. Just a heads up, yes the powers actually do have limits and they are the limits Mel talked about. Making them too powerful would just ruin the story. Another heads up, these are the only powers Mel, Jewel, and Skye get. If they had any more that would also ruin the story. Well, the next chapter will go to several members of the Flock. Something interesting will happen there too. Until next week, I'll see you later.**


	37. It's A Twin Thing

**Hey everyone. I am feeling much better now. I still have no idea what I was sick with, but I'm okay now. I got caught up on all of my makeup work and everything is all good. So, I would like to thank you guys. Your reviews made me feel better while I was feeling lousy. Now, I am trying really hard to start my new Harry Potter fanfiction, 'It Takes Two'. I don't want to start until I get a few chapters written though. Like I said, it is about Fred and George Weasley and a girl named Alyssa Carter. It's set during Prisoner of Azkaban which would be Fred and George's fifth year. If you have any ideas for characters or chapters or pranks or anything, please let me know. I already have a couple friends for Alyssa, but more characters would be great. Descriptions of said characters would be lovely too. Anyway, that's enough of that. Back to business. Read 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen and 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666. Alright, I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

It was Saturday night and Iggy, Max, Elisabeth, Fang, and Angel were sitting cross legged in Elisabeth and Iggy's living room floor. Elisabeth, Fang, and Angel were sitting still with their eyes closed, almost as if they were meditating. However, Max and Iggy were fidgeting around.

Iggy didn't think he could stand it anymore. "Angel, are you sure this is going to work?"

"Iggy, shut up." Angel muttered darkly.

Iggy crossed his arms. He didn't think he should be told, by a girl eight years younger than him, to shut up in his own house. Angel had been searching deep into Elisabeth and Fang's minds for some kind of something for over two hours.

"But don't you think you would've found something by now?" he asked, shifting a little.

Angel sighed, but kept her eyes closed. "I can definitely feel something there Iggy. Some kind of connection. Maybe if you be quiet I can figure out just what it is. Now please, shush." she told him, angrily.

Iggy had been bugging Angel for the past two hours. Angel figured he was the reason it was taking so long. She couldn't concentrate properly due to his constant interruptions.

"Iggy, just be quiet." Max ordered him.

"You can't tell me what to do anymore Max." Iggy told her. "I'm a grown man and I can take care of myself just fine."

"Iggy, shut up!" the twins shouted at once. The lights flickered for a minute and then stopped.

"Interesting." Angel murmured to herself.

"Freaky is more like it." Max stated.

"Oh, so you can talk and I can't?" Iggy asked. "That's real fair Max. This is my house. My rules. I can talk if I want."

"Iggy, shut up!" the twins yelled again. The lights flickered some more.

"Very interesting." Angel murmured again. She opened her eyes and said, "Elisabeth, I need you to think as hard as you can about something."

"About what?" Elisabeth asked curiously. She knew she was finally going to find out if there was a reason for her and Fang being separated.

"Anything." Angel told her. "Just think about it as hard as you possibly can. It's very important."

Elisabeth nodded and began to think.

_Iggy's house? Iggy's rules? Does he even realize I'm right here? If he doesn't stop being so whiny, I'm going to pop him right upside the head. I love him but sheesh. _

"Angel said to think hard, not shout Elisabeth." Fang said. "And should you really be saying that stuff about Iggy in front of his face?"

"What stuff?" Iggy asked.

"Fang, Elisabeth didn't say anything." Max said, slowly. Needless to say, she was a little freaked out.

"Yes she did." Fang said assuredly. "I heard her. She was talking about Iggy being whiny."

"What?" Iggy asked his wife incredulously.

Elisabeth tinged pink. "Fang, I was only thinking those things." she informed him. "How did you hear?"

"You two have a mind link of sorts." Angel told them. "That's what I've been feeling."

"So, they can read each other's minds?" Max asked curiously. That would be interesting.

Angel shook her head. "Only certain thoughts. They can project a thought to each other. I think it's part of their whole 'stealth' thing. They can convey messages to each other to make for more sneaky fighting and stuff of that nature."

"That makes sense." Elisabeth said. "Doesn't it Iggy?" She decided to include him in the conversation. She felt bad for what she thought.

Iggy, however, said absolutely nothing at all. He pretended like he hadn't heard Elisabeth at all.

"Iggy, I know you're probably upset over what I thought, but that's no reason to be rude." Elisabeth told her husband.

"I've been told not to speak." Iggy said simply.

Elisabeth rolled her eyes. "Fine, you may now speak. Are you happy?"

Iggy nodded smugly. "Very. And to answer your question, yes that does make a lot of sense."

"But what was up with the lights?" Max asked, uncrossing her legs.

Angel sighed heavily. "I have no idea. They might have a power, but it could be dangerous for them to try it out. For all we know it could blow up the whole world."

They all looked around at each other (well, except for Iggy). What Angel said was true. There was obviously a reason behind Fang and Elisabeth's separation; they knew that now. If it was as powerful as the whitecoats feared… well, then it would be very terrible if they tried to unleash whatever it was.

"So you all agree with me then?" Angel asked the older Flock members. "They'll never test their power?"

They all nodded and Elisabeth said, "If it seems to be that powerful, then I think this is the best thing we can do. I mean, this could be life or death."

"Still," Fang began. "I would love to know what it is. Is there anyway you could find that out without us using the power Angel?"

She shook her head. "I tried. All I can tell is that it's very, very powerful."

They all sat in silence for a moment before Max abruptly turned the topic of conversation to something else.

"I wonder what Melody's doing right now." she said, staring out into space.

"Probably sleeping since it's ten o'clock." Fang said, checking his watch. "Well, unless she's like Max and is on first watch."

"Have you been checking on her Angel?" Iggy asked hopefully.

Angel nodded. "Her dreams seem normal. No more cliffs and no more thinking about dying."

"Could you tell us her latest one?" Elisabeth asked curiously.

"It was a very peaceful dream." Angel began. "There was some kind of meadow or something. In the middle of the meadow there was a blanket set out with a picnic basket in the middle. She was sitting with a boy that had white blonde hair and blue eyes. He was laughing with her. They looked happy. Then a girl with short red hair and emerald green eyes come out from behind a tree and she began laughing with them as she sat down. Iggy, you and Elisabeth showed up to. You were both smiling and it seemed like you were talking to her and the boy. I think the boy was Skye and the girl was Jewel."

Angel purposely left out that there was a clap of thunder and a flash of lightning and then Iggy and Elisabeth were lying on the ground. A boy with spiky copper hair came out of nowhere and he was laughing insanely. There was another flash of lightning and then Mel was all alone, screaming.

"She must really miss us." Elisabeth said wistfully. "I wonder where she is right now."

"There's no way to know that." Max told her. "However, it doesn't hurt to think about it and hope that she's okay."

Iggy sighed. "Well, I hope that wherever she is, she's safe and sound. That's all we can ask for."

Fang and Angel nodded in agreement. "I'm sure she's perfectly safe." Fang said confidently.

**So, did you guys like that chapter? I really hope so. It might not have been the absolute best, but it was still pretty good. The next chapter will go back to Melody, Skye, and Jewel. They are all in for one major surprise. I won't say anymore about that. You'll just have to wait until next week. So I'll see you guys then.**


	38. The 'E' Virus

**Hey guys. Time for an update. I had a lot of time to write this over Thanksgiving break. This chapter is major. This is where everything changes. I never expected that I would be doing this when I first started writing this story, but things kind of happen that way. Ok, getting off this subject for a second. Did anyone see New Moon? I haven't gotten to yet, but I'm going soon. My friends tell me that it was amazing, so I can't wait to see it. I'm really excited about Eclipse coming out in June. It's my favorite. Seth helps Edward rip Victoria to shreds. It's great. Yeah, if you haven't figured it out, I'm Team Seth. I can't help it. However, that doesn't mean that I don't think Taylor Lautner isn't hot. The commercials make it hard for me to breathe. Okay, back on topic… sort of. I've decided I'm making two more Twilight fanfics. They both sort of go with 'Solar Flare'. They are 'Sparks' which is about Brady and 'Like Lightning' which is about Collin. I won't be posting them until I get a little farther in 'Solar Flare' though. On another note, I'm having a little trouble starting 'It Takes Two', my Harry Potter fanfic. Just a slight case of writer's block. Hope I can shake it. So, read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. These guys are awesome. Oh, yeah. Thanks to Sonya Rivers for pointing out something about Mel's power. I fixed that problem in this chapter. It's funny, trust me. So, be on the lookout for some of my new fanfictions and I really hope you enjoy this chapter. Like I said, this changes everything. I hope you like it. I worked my butt off on this.**

"No, okay, okay. I admit it. Today was pretty awesome. Jewel certainly seemed happy." Skye laughed.

Our perfect day was at an end and I was on watch. Skye had decided to stay up with me, so I was leaning against him and let me just say that he was very comfortable. We had been talking about our day for about an hour. I liked when Skye let his guard down. He was sweet.

"I told you it would be great." I reminded him, turning my head back to look at him.

He sighed. "I actually felt normal for once in my life." He looked into my eyes and my heart stopped. I could see the glow of the firelight reflected in them. "Thanks for that Mel."

I smiled softly. "You're welcome." My heart had calmed down and stopped trying to jump out of my chest. I still couldn't believe that a few days ago I thought Skye was the biggest jerk on the planet. Funny how quickly things can change.

"What?" I asked when I noticed he hadn't stopped staring at me.

He smiled devilishly. "I really want to kiss you right now." he whispered in my ear, sending a chill down my spine.

Without warning, Skye brought his lips to mine. I still couldn't believe this was happening. I was half expecting someone to wake me up and throw me back into reality where Skye hated me. But that didn't happen. This was no dream. This was real.

Skye pulled his lips slowly off mine and I caught my breath. We both stared at each other for a minute and then sighed contentedly and sank into a deep, comfortable silence.

Suddenly, Skye broke the silence by laughing his head off at something that only he knew about.

"What?" I asked when his laughter had subsided to a simple chuckle. "What's so funny?"

He gasped for breath. "I just realized the most hilarious thing in the entire world."

"Well, I would enjoy knowing what it is."

He continued to laugh for a second. When he had calmed down once again, he said, "You'll think this is so funny."

"What?" I asked, getting a teensy bit exasperated with him.

"You could've used your new power over water to draw the water out of our clothes instead of making us change." he said, waiting for my reaction.

It took me a second to figure out what he was talking about. However, I did figure it out and I must admit that I felt pretty stupid. "Well duh." I muttered. "Why didn't I think of that?"

We both burst into sidesplitting laughter. It was so obvious that I could've done that and I don't know why I didn't think to do it.

A twig snapped in the distance and we both tensed up. Even though we were fairly certain nothing was going to happen, we still had to pay attention on watch. We needed to be quieter. Not only so that we could hear what was going on around us, but also so that no one lurking around would know we were there.

"What was that?" Skye whispered. It was easy to see that he was really freaked out. I admit that I was too, but I was the leader. I had to keep a level head in a situation like this.

I took in a deep breath. "It's nothing. Probably just some animal. Or it could've been a figment of our imaginations brought on by stress." That had to be it.

Skye nodded. "Sure. That's all. It's nothing." He wrapped his arms around my middle and pressed me closer to him. "Everything's going to be just fine kiddo. You'll see." he whispered. I think he was trying to make himself feel better without admitting that he was scared.

I heard another twig snap and I swore I had heard someone cuss. With a slight flick of the wrist, I doused our fire with my new power. I then reached for my bag and pulled out a flashlight.

"Who's there?" I called into the darkness. I got up and Skye went over to Jewel to shake her awake.

"Mmm?" she asked, propping her head up. "My turn for watch?" she muttered sleepily.

"Jewel, someone's here." Skye whispered urgently.

Jewel bolted up. "How? How'd they find us? Are you sure? They couldn't have found us." she whispered quickly.

I put my finger to my lips, telling them to be quiet. They both walked over to me, getting into defensive positions. I was ready for all hell to break loose pretty damn quickly.

"I know someone's out there!" I yelled again. "Show yourselves! Come out and fight!" I was acting much braver than I felt. I was actually resisting the urge to turn on my heels and run for my life.

Skye, Jewel, and I just stood unmoving while we heard three sets of heavy footsteps approach us. My eyes had now adjusted to the dark and what I saw made me want to scream. What I saw was three Erasers. It looked like the School had decided to bring them back.

"What the heck are those things?" Skye whispered while the Erasers watched us with apparent interest.

"Erasers." I whispered back, not taking my eyes off them.

"Wait, what?" Skye asked, confused.

"Human lupine hybrids." I explained, still whispering as softly as I could.

"I repeat: What?"

I sighed. I forgot that he wouldn't know what Erasers were. "Wolf people." I explained to him. "The School used to have them in Max's day. Guess they brought them back."

The Erasers hadn't taken their eyes off us. The bigger one in the middle who had his arms folded was staring straight at me. I noticed the way he looked at me and the smirk on his face. I had seen that smirk before. It made my stomach lurch.

"Tanner." I said.

"Caught on have you Melody?" Tanner asked, inclining his head. "Took you long enough. I thought you'd be smart enough to figure it out. Guess I overestimated you."

"Tanner?" Skye asked as everything sunk in. "What the hell?"

"Allow me to explain." he said, coming closer to us. "Willow, Flint, and I also have new powers. Amazing what a little liquid injected into your veins can do." He flexed his arm. "I told you that we get all of the best perks."

Suddenly, everything made complete sense. Willow with her claws and her fangs. It fit. But how did it happen? Then it hit me.

"The 'E' virus." I whispered as it dawned on me. "It did this. 'E' stands for Eraser. The Director injected you guys with it." Then I remembered something that made me want to cry. "And Willow…" I couldn't bring myself to say it.

"Yes Melody." Tanner said, confirming my darkest fear. "Willow injected Skye with it."

"That explains why he was sick." I muttered to myself. I looked up at Tanner with a smirk of my own. "But I healed Skye."

Tanner let out a hollow laugh. "No. You only delayed the process. Skye's about to turn into an Eraser. You see, we morph when we get mad and we're making Skye morph by just standing here."

Skye had been quiet for far too long. I whipped around and saw him down on his knees with tears streaming out of his eyes. He looked like he had when he got sick the last time.

Jewel and I dropped to our knees. I put my arms around Skye, trying to keep him calm. "Skye, it's ok. I'm here. Everything will be fine. I promise."

Tanner laughed. "Don't listen to her Skye." he told her. "She hates you, remember?"

Skye shook his head. "She… loves me." he growled through clenched teeth.

Tanner laughed again. "No Skye, she doesn't. It was all a lie. She lied to you. She thinks you're useless and stupid. Remember?"

Skye started shaking more violently and Jewel and I jumped up. Tanner was making him mad. He was making him hate me. I watched as Skye morphed into an Eraser. It was the single grossest thing I'd ever seen and the single scariest so I'll leave out the details.

He was still bent down on the ground, but he didn't look like Skye anymore. He looked like the enemy.

"Skye?" Jewel whispered nervously. She was in a state of complete shock.

Skye turned his head up at us, his blue eyes burning with anger and unbridled rage. He looked over at Tanner, waiting for orders to be given before he struck.

Tanner looked at me. "Look at him Melody. This was your doing. You did this to him. If you joined me all of this could've been prevented. I told you that you'd be sorry. Now I'm going to let your true love destroy you."

Skye's ears pricked up at this. He looked almost happy. I felt like I was going to throw up. I'd have to let him kill me. I couldn't hurt him and Tanner knew that. I was doomed.

"Rip her throat out Skye." Tanner ordered.

Before I could even blink, Skye lunged at me. I dived out of the way, but he had still managed to rake me with his claws. I fell on the ground and looked up at him. He was loving my pain and fear.

He turned back to Tanner. "Can I kill them?" he asked his new leader.

Tanner looked thoughtful and then shook his head. "No. You better not."

Jewel crouched down over me and then looked up at Skye. "How could you do this?"

Skye chuckled. "Easy."

I could tell Jewel had tears in her eyes. She couldn't believe that this was happening. Skye had been like her big brother almost her whole life and now he was asking their worst enemy if he could kill her.

"You love her." she growled at him. "And you're my best friend."

Skye chuckled again. "Yeah, I loved her. Once. She never loved me though, so this was easy. I hurt her just like she hurt me."

I heard a faint beeping noise. Tanner pulled something out of his pocket. "We gotta go." he told his cronies.

Flint took off first, followed by Willow, and then Tanner. Skye stayed on the ground for a second. He walked over to me and touched my face. I looked into his eyes, but they were still cold. Then he stomped on my arm, breaking it. I gasped in pain and he just laughed.

"Catch ya later Princess." he told me, his teeth gleaming in the moonlight.

Jewel hit him from behind and he whipped around and knocked her to the ground. I watched as her head hit a fairly large rock and Skye laughed again. He then took off after his new friends, leaving Jewel and me alone and heartbroken.

Jewel slowly sat up, her head was bleeding. I just stayed on the ground. None of this made any sense to me. Skye just hurt Jewel. It was like someone had dropped me into some alternate universe.

Suddenly, my cheek stung and I cried out in pain. It was then that I realized I had been crying and that the salt from my tears had been making the place where Skye had cut me hurt worse.

"No." I whispered. "No. No. No. No." The shock was too much. I couldn't handle it. I just wanted to die. It made no sense. A few minutes ago Skye had been kissing me and now he was gone. He had left me. I was alone, broken, lost. And suddenly I knew how much I truly loved him and that just made me hurt more.

My whole body felt numb, not just the arm that Skye broke. I could heal myself, but what would be the point? I'd still be hurting on the inside.

I heard Jewel crawl over to me and say something to me, but I was too upset to make any sense of it.

"Mel?"

That made sense. It also sounded familiar. Oh, right. That was my name. Somehow, this whole thing seemed sort of familiar. It was like I had read it somewhere before, but it was different.

"Mel, we have to do something." I could feel Jewel shaking me. I realized she needed me. I couldn't feel sorry for myself. I had to make her feel better even though the world had stopped.

I slowly sat up, but didn't bother to heal my face or my arm. I still couldn't see a point in it.

"Mel, we have to go get him." Jewel told me.

I shook my head. "He's gone." I whispered, my voice cracking. "And I mean completely gone."

Jewel took in a shuddering breath. "Maybe we can snap him out of it." she said. "I mean, Tanner's the one who talked him into hating us. Maybe we can get him back to normal."

I shook my head. "He's gone." I whispered again.

Jewel looked at me, dumbfounded. "We have to try. We can't just sit here and do nothing."

"Sure we can." I told her.

"So, we're just going to give up?" she asked me incredulously.

"There's nothing else we can do."

"You're Maximum Ride's niece." she reminded me.

"I know!" I shouted angrily at her. "But I'm not Max! I'm not my mom! I'm not my dad! Skye was right! I have no idea what they went through! I can't do it! I can't save Skye!"

I started crying again. I didn't know how to make Jewel understand. I was just a scared little kid. I couldn't help her. I never should've fooled her and myself into thinking I could.

"Mel, snap out of it!" Jewel yelled at me, exasperated. "You don't have to be Max or your parents. Being you is enough. Who got Skye and me out of the School? You. Who showed us how to survive? You. Who showed me that I could do anything? You."

I stopped crying. Jewel was right. I had done all of those things. I had proved to myself and everyone else that I was just as good as Max and the rest of the Flock. I could do anything. I wiped the tears out of my eyes with my good arm.

Jewel looked at me, knowing that she had gotten through to me. I placed my hand to her forehead and healed her. I then put my hand to my face, healed where Skye had scratched me, and then healed my broken arm.

"Who are you?" Jewel asked me, smiling.

"Melody Isabelle Smith."

"What are you going to do?"

"Save Skye."

"Why?"

"Because I can and because I love him."

"And how are you going to do it?"

And suddenly, my new confidence in myself evaporated. "I don't know." I whispered. "I don't even know where he is Jewel. What was I thinking?"

Jewel rolled her eyes. "Mel, don't you feel it?"

"Feel what?" I asked, looking up at her.

"That tugging at your heart, telling you where to go." she said. "I feel it."

I looked at her and suddenly, I could feel it. There was something telling me where to go. It was like I had a compass in my heart that pointed towards Skye. I slowly nodded.

Jewel smiled. "We have a connection to him."

We certainly did. However, I was far too tired for a rescue mission. Besides that, I didn't have a plan.

Jewel sighed as if she knew what I was thinking. "We'll go after him first thing in the morning. I'll take watch. You need sleep."

I took in a breath. "Okay." I told her. "First thing in the morning."

Jewel grabbed the flashlight that I had dropped on the ground and went over to the tree that Skye and I had been leaning against earlier.

I sighed and laid down right where I was. I was still hurting a lot and I had a strange, nagging feeling, but soon sleep overcame me.

**Told you everything was going to change. I hope that was long enough for you guys. It was sixteen pages on Word. So, I'm updating next week. And Jewel will be updating Mel's blog, so you need to check that out on max - dan - wiz - ASAP. Leave me some nice long reviews guys. Catch you later.**


	39. On The Inside

**Hey everyone. I've decided that I'm just going to update whenever I can. This whole updating once a week thing just isn't going to work if I want to post all the fanfics that I want to write. So, this is a double update. I'm really sorry about what happened to Skye guys. I had to do it. What's one of my fanfics without one huge twist that leaves you wondering what I was thinking? I promise that you'll see why I did this soon. Well, this chapter follows Skye. I really hope you guys enjoy this. It should be interesting to say the least. So, read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. These guys are the best. They are amazing authors and even better reviewers. This chapter is dedicated to them and my good cyber buddy Sonya Rivers. You guys have seen me through some rough patches. Your reviews have made me smile. When I felt like giving up I'd go through my old reviews and see the amazing ones you left me and I'd say, 'This is why I continue to write. I can't let these guys down.' and then I'd be inspired to come up with an excellent chapter. Thanks so much for that guys. You have no idea how much you mean to me. Well, here it is. For you.**

Skye brushed his white blonde hair out of his eyes and looked towards the horizon. The sun was just beginning to rise. Tanner had made them fly all through the night. And he had thought Mel was tough. However, Melody didn't matter. She was the enemy. She had always been the enemy; he'd just never seen it. Tanner had showed him. She wanted to protect the normal people who would call her a freak if they knew what she really was, like her friend Cory. She was stupid and weak.

Skye looked down on the ground to take his mind off her. All he could see for miles was desert. He didn't know where they were exactly, but he was sure they were on the west coast.

He felt a pair of wings brush his side so he turned his head. Willow was nodding down at the ground. He looked in the direction she was indicating and saw a massive building that looked like it had been abandoned for several years.

He looked to his other side and Tanner gave him a short nod. This was the place. It was time to start their descent.

Once on the ground they walked into the old building. Despite the way it looked on the outside, the inside looked like it had been kept up nicely. Everything inside was white, chrome, and unnaturally spotless.

"Welcome to California." Tanner whispered as they walked inside. "This was the place where everything started. This is where we came to be."

Skye turned to his leader, curious. "You mean this is the very School that Maximum Ride and her Flock escaped from?"

Tanner nodded. "That's right." They came to a fork in the hallway. Tanner pointed to the right. "This way. The Director wants to have a word with Skye."

Skye tensed up at that. The Director wanted to see him. He was not looking forward to seeing her. Not after all that betrayal. Not after she had lied to him, just like Melody had. He felt his claws extend. He took in a deep breath. He couldn't think about that. They retracted back into his fingertips.

"Here." Tanner said, stopping in front of a huge metal door. He pressed a red button on the side. In a matter of seconds, the door slid open and Tanner pushed Skye forward. The doors slid shut behind him. He approached the Director's desk very slowly. She was sitting in a big, black chair facing the wall.

"You… uh wanted to see me?" he asked nervously. This was the last thing he wanted to be doing.

"Yes." came her voice from the chair. She turned around and smiled at him. "I see the 'E' virus worked."

Skye nodded. "It works great." he told her.

She nodded happily. "Did it hurt when you morphed? Did you experience any kind of pain?"

Skye nodded. "It was awful. I felt like I was dying or like I was being ripped apart."

"Well, that's normal. You'll get used to it in time." she assured him. "Now, about Melody."

Skye growled and began getting angry. "What about her?" he asked through clenched teeth, trying to remain calm.

The Director smirked. "I just wanted to make sure that all of your feelings for her were… unpleasant."

Skye nodded, getting his temper under control. He wished people would stop mentioning her.

The Director looked at him curiously for a moment, got out of her chair and walked over to him. She placed her hands on her shoulders. "Welcome home Skye. I've been waiting for this moment for a long time."

Skye felt… weird. He wanted to throw her off him, but knew that he couldn't. He'd be in humungous trouble with Tanner for that.

"Can I go now?" he muttered after sitting there for a minute.

She sighed. "Yes, I suppose you can." She walked back over to her chair and sat down.

Skye stood up and slowly walked towards the door. He could not wait until he was out of Dr. Mason's sight.

"Wait a second Skye." she said as he reached the big metal door.

He turned around to look at her. She was smiling the same smile she used to give him when he was a small child before he hated her.

"I'm so proud of you." she told him. She looked at him for another moment and then nodded towards the door. "Send Tanner in."

Skye nodded and then pressed the red button on the side of the door. It slid open with a hissing noise and he saw Tanner, Willow, and Flint standing in front of it. Skye nodded towards Tanner and he went inside the room. The doors slid shut behind him, leaving his three partners alone in the hall.

Skye sighed and leaned up against the wall next to Willow. She smiled softly at him, but he didn't smile back.

"We're glad to have you back Skye." Willow whispered. "You're where you belong. With me and Tanner, your best friends."

Skye nodded solemnly. He didn't want to talk. He felt like crap. He just wanted to lie down and sleep.

Willow placed her hand on his shoulder and made him look into her eyes. "Skye, I mean it. I'm really happy to have you back."

Skye turned away from her and shrugged her off. He remembered Mel touching him like that and it made him angry. He couldn't afford to get angry.

She looked at him, open mouthed for a minute and then ran down the hall, crying. Skye wondered why. He turned to Flint, looking for some kind of an explanation for Willow's strange behavior.

Flint just rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Never listens. We were ordered to wait right here and what does she do? She runs off." he muttered, annoyed. This was the first time Skye could ever remember hearing Flint speak and it was rather eerie.

Suddenly, the door slid open and Tanner stepped out, looking like someone had told him he just won the lottery. When he looked at Skye and Flint his smile faded.

"Where's Willow?" he asked angrily.

Flint and Skye pointed in the direction that Willow had ran away. Tanner groaned angrily.

"If I've told her once then I've told her a thousand times. I'm the leader. She has to listen to me." He took off down the hall and Skye and Flint followed him slowly. They could tell Tanner's good mood had just vanished.

They came to the end of the hall and Tanner swung open the door. Willow was sitting on her bed and when she saw Tanner, she looked frightened.

"How many times have I told you?" Tanner asked, jerking Willow up by her hair. She shrieked in pain and he ignored her. "Answer me." he ordered.

"A thousand." she whimpered. He threw her to the ground.

"And you still disobey me." he told her.

"I'm sorry." she cried. She looked around the room pleadingly. She was practically begging Flint and Skye to help her. Flint just shook his head and sat down, so Skye did the same.

Tanner shook his head and yanked her back up. "You're not sorry." he told her. "But you're gonna be." He slapped her hard across her face and then hit her nose. It began squirting blood and Tanner pushed her back in the floor.

"There." he growled as Willow held her bleeding nose, trying to stop the flow. "Maybe now you'll listen."

Willow looked to Skye hopefully. He just shook his head again and lied down in his new bed, letting sleep over take him even though it was seven in the morning.

**Yikes. Tanner is horrible, isn't he? ****I certainly would not want to be in Willow's shoes. How can she love a guy like that? Well, like I said, this is a double update so go and take a look at the next chapter. It goes back to Jewel and Mel. Emotions are running high. Wonder what will happen next. Guess you'll just have to keep reading. Leave me a nice long review guys. Thanks.**


	40. Out Of It

**Okay, this is the second chapter of my double update. The last chapter was rather… interesting. There's just no other word for it. Now, like I said, this chapter goes back to Mel and Jewel. Read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. These two are awesome authors and reviewers. They always manage to make me smile with either there amazing stories or their supportive reviews. Thanks again guys. Okay, so you probably want me to get on with my new chapter. So, let's see what's up with Mel and Jewel. Here we go guys. I seriously hope you enjoy this.**

I looked at the needle and saw that it was pretty close to 'E'. Scarily close. We were so freaking close to Skye. We could not run out of gas. Not then. No, not then. That would be awful.

"Come on." I muttered to myself. "We're almost there. I can feel it. I can feel him." The tugging at my heart kept getting stronger and stronger every second.

In case you were wondering, Jewel and I had stolen a truck. We found it just sitting in a parking lot so I broke in (The idiot hadn't turned on his alarm.) and then hotwired it. It was not as easy as Nudge had made it look when she was teaching me, but I had managed to do it. I figured that it would be less conspicuous for us to drive up to where they were keeping Skye than to fly up. So, as soon as I felt that we were extremely close to Skye, we stole the truck.

"Mel?" Jewel asked me. I turned to look at her. "Have you managed to come up with a plan yet?" she asked hopefully.

I sighed and looked straight ahead of me. We weren't on a road anymore and it looked as though we were in the desert. Suddenly, a huge, decrepit building came into view. I suddenly knew where we were. We were at the School in California. This was where they had kept Max and the rest of the Flock for so long. This was the place where they'd escaped from. I slammed on the breaks and stopped the truck.

"Yeah Jewel, I got a plan." I told her after I cut off the engine.

I wasn't lying. I did have a plan. Unfortunately, it didn't involve me getting out of the School. It didn't really involve Jewel or Skye getting out either, but I figured Jewel would eventually figure this out and bust herself out. She'd be smart enough to find the Flock and she could stay with them and tell them what happened to me. Skye and I would be stuck forever, but that was okay. I'd be close to him in my last moments. Yeah, I was fairly sure that they were going to kill me and they were probably going to get Skye to do it.

"What is it?" she asked warily.

"We're going to get captured on purpose." I told her.

Jewel looked at me thoughtfully. "Sounds good." she told me. "But, can I say something?"

I shrugged. "I suppose. It's a free country."

"Well, I was just thinking." she told me. "It'd be too obvious that we wanted to be captured if we just waltzed right in there."

That made sense, so I nodded. "Okay. So, what do you suggest we do?" I asked her, happy that she was learning how to come up with plans on her own.

"Well, the weakest point in the School is the roof." she told me. "The only time anyone goes up there is for maintenance. I figured we could crawl through the vents or something."

I nodded, but saw a slight flaw in her plan. "Are you sure we would fit?"

She grinned. "Oh yeah. If a fat, two hundred and sixty pound man can fit in there, than so can two, skinny, ninety pound bird girls."

That was true. "Okay." I told her. "Sounds good. We'll drop down as soon as we hear Skye or Tanner. We can make it look like we accidentally made it to the wrong place or something. Then we'll put up a little fight and get captured."

Jewel nodded. "Exactly. And we can leave the backpack and laptop in here and come get it when we escape with Skye." My heart lurched at that thought because I knew there was no escaping for Skye and me. We were both doomed. However, I nodded anyway.

She hopped out of the truck and looked towards the sky. "We can take off from here and then land on the roof. The guards in the guard towers don't go on duty until later tonight. It's dark enough for us not to be seen and light enough for them not to be out."

I hopped out of the truck and then slammed my door. "Let's go." I told her, letting out my sore, stiff wings.

We took off into the air and then flew as fast as we could to the roof. We landed, tucked our wings in again, and I pulled a tiny screwdriver out of my pocket. I began unscrewing the vent covers and then let Jewel crawl inside first. Then I followed in after her.

We crawled around for a while when I heard a door open. Jewel and I stopped moving and listened to what was going on down below.

"So, what exactly is your plan for Melody?" I knew that voice. It was Skye. I was so close to him that I couldn't believe it. He was right there, below me. My heart was about to jump out of my chest with excitement.

"I can't tell you that Skye." Tanner. "It's my business. Just between the Director and me. But I can tell you one thing. She's going to be joining us."

I put my hand to my mouth. This was not good. Not good at all. I was going to have to put up a better fight than I had thought. I would have to make Tanner explosively mad before he'd let Skye kill me.

We heard them walk away and, when I was sure they were far enough away, I crashed through the vent and Jewel and I tumbled to the ground.

As expected, Tanner and Skye came back around the corner to see what the commotion was. I could tell that they were surprised to see us. I looked up at them and muttered, "Oops. Wrong place. My bad."

"Oh well." Skye said evilly. "I guess we can try to forgive you." He made to attack us, but Tanner held him back.

"Don't." he told him. "They'll come quietly. Right Melody?" he asked me, grinning.

"Fat chance." I told him, charging. I hit him in the face and his head snapped around.

He grabbed my arm as I swung it back to hit him again. He twisted it behind my back and I winced in pain. I looked over to Skye, seeing that he was holding Jewel upside down by her ankles. Well, the plan had worked perfectly. We were captured just like we wanted.

Tanner shook his head as he pushed me down the hallway. "I really thought you had more sense than this Melody." he whispered in my ear. "You're getting very sloppy." he told me.

I said nothing and just let him march me to my prison. I turned my head slightly to the side to look at Skye. He wasn't in his Eraser form, so what he was doing to Jewel made my heart hurt even more. I knew this was the last time I would ever see him as the old Skye. The next, and last, time I would see him, he'd be an Eraser. And I'd be dying. Slowly and painfully.

**So, this was pretty short, just like the last chapter. The next one will be longer, I promise. Like I said, no idea when I'm updating again, but you can be sure it'll be pretty soon. Well, read and review. I really hope you liked this chapter. It only gets more exciting from here. I promise.**


	41. Ultimatum

**Yay! Another new chapter! I'm on a roll. I hope you guys enjoyed my last two chapters. I've been in a writing mood lately. I have all these idea that are just itching to get out and be seen. However, I must admit that I am mildly upset. I seem to be getting less and less reviews lately. I know that it's almost the holidays and some of you are very busy. That's okay. But when I look at my story stats and see that I have like thirty hits on a chapter but not a single review, it makes me upset. However, I would like to thank Sonya Rivers for her reviews on my last few chapters. So, please review. Please? *Makes Bambi eyes, whimpers, and makes lower lip quiver* Please? Okay, enough of the guilt trip. Back to business. Read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. As I have said a million times before, they are both so freaking amazing. You guys should also be on the lookout for my three new stories. Those stories would be: 'It Takes Two' (Harry Potter), 'Sparks' (Twilight), and 'Like Lightning' (Twilight). I am also in the process of making two new Maximum Ride fanfics. You will have to have read 'With Wings Wide Open' and this story to understand them, but they should be good. Well, I suppose that's all I really need to say for now. I best better be getting on to this lovely chapter, hadn't I? Yeah, I probably should. So, without anymore delay, here is my latest chapter. I really hope you guys enjoy this. It's fairly interesting and certainly not boring. **

"Mel, what do you think is going to happen to us?" Jewel asked me, her voice weak and raspy. She looked paler than usual and I thought she was fighting the urge to throw up.

I sighed heavily and turned my head slightly. "I have no idea Jewel." I whispered. I was too tired to say much else.

We had been locked in a dungeon for two days. Now, when I say 'dungeon', that is exactly what I mean. It was the type of thing you'd find in a castle in medieval times. Our legs were chained up, but, thankfully, we were still able to move around a little.

Suddenly, the door swung open. I sighed, knowing what it meant. It was Skye, bringing down our measly meal of bread and a bottle of water. I had tried talking to him the first day we were down there, but my attempt was futile. He wouldn't say one word to me and his eyes were still ice cold. This time would not be any different.

He made his way over to us and handed us our food. He stared at us, his empty eyes following our every move, as we scarfed down our rations. They had to feed us to keep us alive.

When we were finished, I expected Skye to leave, but he pulled out a small silver key instead. It shocked me. Had I actually gotten through to him? Was he actually back to normal? Were we going to escape?

My hope must've shown because Skye smirked at me evilly. "Tanner wants to see you." he told me, making all of my hope vanish.

He bent down next to me and even though he was now the enemy, I still couldn't breathe. He unlocked my chains and then quickly grabbed my hands. He put them behind my back and put handcuffs on them. Then he put a blindfold over my eyes, tightening it to make sure it wouldn't come off. He led me up the stairs, knowing I was way too weak to fight back.

We didn't speak a word to each other as Skye led me towards Tanner. I was glad I had been blindfolded. Seeing Skye would only make all of this so much worse. Hearing his breathing right next to me was bad enough.

Suddenly, Skye jerked me to a stop and then I heard him knock on a door. I then heard it open and was thrust inside. The door shut behind me and, suddenly, I was terrified. I couldn't move. I was glued to the floor.

"Hello Melody." I heard Tanner say. I could feel that he was very close to me. "So glad you could join me."

I said nothing and didn't move from my spot. I couldn't let him know I was afraid, but I was also too tired to do anything else. It's not very comfortable sleeping against a cold, brick wall.

"Come on Melody. Don't be shy." he whispered. He had gotten closer. "What's happened to all of that spirit? Huh, Melody? Where's it all gone to?" He was extremely close now.

I still said nothing to him. I just wanted this to be over. I just wanted him to call Skye back in and let him kill me. I couldn't stand it any longer. I was ready for Skye to take me away from the world.

"Are you gonna talk to me Melody?" Tanner asked. When I didn't respond, he chuckled. "You know, I asked to do this job personally." He was now so close that I could feel his breath in my ear.

In one swift movement, he had grabbed my shoulders and shoved me against a wall. All I could think was, _Oh my God. Tanner is going to kill me. Not Skye. Tanner's going to do it._

But, instead of killing me, I felt him push his body up against me. He placed his lips on mine before I could even realize what was going on. I couldn't move. I was in complete shock. But then, I felt Tanner let go of my shoulders and snake his hands up my shirt as he continued to kiss me. I did the only thing I could do. I stomped on his foot as hard as I could. He instantly pulled off of me.

He slapped me and yanked off my blindfold. The bright light hurt my eyes and I squinted.

"Guess we didn't squash your spirit after all." Tanner came into focus as my eyes adjusted to the light.

"Guess not." I managed to choke out. I felt so… dirty knowing that he had put his hands and lips on me. It was so gross.

He sighed. "I really don't know why you do this to yourself." he told me. "Why don't you want to join us?"

"Because I'm not a bad guy." I told him defiantly.

He laughed. "The bad guy? Is that what you think I am?" He looked at me and laughed again. "You've got it all wrong Melody. I'm the good guy. You see, I don't want to hurt you."

It was my turn to laugh. "Are you joking? You don't want to hurt me?"

He shook his head. "I'm going to tell you the honest truth Melody." he said. He came closer to me. "I love you." he whispered, placing his hand on my face.

I tried to shrug him off, shuddering. I could guess why Tanner loved me. I was a challenge to him. That and I was a girl and he was a boy and... You get the picture.

I backed up several paces, but Tanner followed me, smirking. I was beginning to get very afraid.

"What Melody?" he asked. "You're not afraid of me are you?"

I backed up against the wall. "No." I told him. "I'm not afraid of you. I just think you're insane."

He laughed. "Insane? No, I'm not insane. I'm just idealistic. You see Melody, I have a plan." He took a look at the curious expression on my face and smirked. "Now, I can't tell you the plan. That would ruin the surprise."

"How can I tell you that I'll join you if you don't tell me what you plan on doing?" I asked, stalling for time until I could think of a way to get out of there or to make Tanner mad enough to get Skye to kill me.

He smiled. "Okay, fair enough. I just won't tell you the whole thing." He sighed and said, "You see, unlike you, I hate all of those normal people. I can't really see why you like them and feel like you need to protect them. They're weak and vicious. I mean, if they knew what you were, they'd call you a freak. They'd shun you Melody. I want to make them pay."

Pay? For something they hadn't done? Okay, I was way wrong. Tanner wasn't insane. He was a freaking psychotic maniac. I would've backed up more, but I was already against the wall.

"Tanner, let me tell you something." I told him, still stalling. "Everyone in the world has something in common. We all have to grow up. That is hard enough to do without being in a cage. What the whitecoatsdid to my family, everyone here, and countless faceless experiments was awful. They didn't deserveto be tortured. You, Skye, Willow, and Flint didn't deserve to be turned into Erasers. But, there's nothing we can do about that. I want to protect the normal people, like my friends, from suffering like my family has. No one deserves that."

He clapped slowly. "Well Melody, that was a lovely speech, but it's not going to change anything. Are you going to join me or not?" he asked.

The time for stalling was over. I looked him dead in the eyes. "Never in a million years you creep."

His hands wrapped around my throat, squeezing until I couldn't breathe. I was fighting for air, but I wasn't getting any. Everything began getting fuzzy around the edges. Nothing was clear. I actually saw a bright, white light.

Suddenly, Tanner let go of my neck and shoved me into somebody. I fell to the ground, gasping for air, and looked up at Skye. He was looking at Tanner, waiting for orders on what to do with me.

_Oh please kill me. _I thought desperately. _Oh Angel of Death take me now. Let Skye be the last thing I see as he rips me to shreds or strangles the life out of me or cuts me and leaves me on the ground dying from loss of blood. I don't care how he does it. Just let him be the one to do it and make it as slow and as painful as possible. _

I must have missed what Tanner said, because I saw Skye nod at him and then he yanked me off the ground. He made a point not to look me in the eyes as he tied the blindfold around my face.

So it seemed as though Skye wouldn't be the last thing I saw. However, his breathing or amused laughter would be the last thing I heard aside from my own sobbing and/or screaming.

I waited for some kind of pain to come, but it never did. I was simply taken out of the room and led on a familiar path. He was taking me back to Jewel. I wondered how long they'd keep us before they decided to kill us.

Suddenly, I felt a burst of pain in my arm. I assumed Skye had dug his claws into me. He must have been getting mad about having to see me and to touch me.

We came to a stop again and I was forced into another room. Skye undid my blindfold and then unlocked my handcuffs, grabbing my arms tightly. If I had the energy to beat him up, knock him out, and then get Jewel and get out I would have. But I didn't feel like it, so I didn't do it.

Skye chained my legs up again and then sneered. "I won't be seeing you for a long time." he told me. "Tanner said you aren't to have anything to eat for a few days. He thinks it'll change your tune."

I said nothing and just stared right on through him. Jewel was asleep next to me, but gave a small grunt.

"I don't know what he sees in you." Skye said. "Look at you. You're weak. If it was me, I'd end your miserable life."

He had no idea how much I wanted him to do that. He just had absolutely no clue how much I wanted everything to end, how much I wanted my heart to stop. It was broken and useless anyway.

"You just aren't gonna talk are you?" he asked. "Is the great Melody finally broken? I know it can't be over me. You never loved me." He stared at me for a moment, shook his head, and began walking out of the room.

I surprised myself by calling to him. He turned around to look at me as I said, "For the record, I did love you Skye. But now? Now I hate you. Or, at least, I hate what you've become. And I don't mean the Eraser part. That I could live with, but I can't live with the way you've been acting."

He stared at me for a moment longer, shook his head again, mumbled something to himself, and walked out of the room.

I was left almost completely alone. The only sound I heard was Jewel breathing deeply in her sleep. All I could see was Skye's unfeeling eyes. I didn't understand how Tanner had convinced him to hate me and so quickly too. I supposed that meant Skye had always had doubts about the way I felt about him.

I sat awake, thinking about Skye, for a long time. Somehow though, I finally managed to fall into a very uncomfortable sleep.

**Yeesh. What did you guys think about that? Interesting huh? I'm actually very proud of this chapter. So, I have no idea when I'm updating again. I'll try to make it as soon as I possibly can though. Well, leave me some reviews guys. Please?**


	42. Emotions

**Hey guys. Told you I'd update soon. I'm making real progress with this fanfic. Okay, so in my last chapter Tanner freaking kissed Melody to which she responded by stomping on his foot and refusing to ever join him. Since he doesn't take rejection very well, he lost his temper and almost strangled her. This chapter occurs around the same time as that one. However, we follow Willow and have some Skye in here too. More sad stuff. Sorry. It's gotta get worse before it gets better. My next few chapters will be very depressing, just warning you. Even the slightly happier chapters are filled with sadness. I think it's the sucky weather over here that's making me all emo-ish. Oh well. What can you do? So, let me get on with the usual stuff. Read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. They are amazing. So, here we go with this chapter. It'll be interesting.**

Willow was alone, walking down the long, lonely hall. She was used to be alone. Flint hated her and, to be honest, she thought the kid was a weirdo anyway. Tanner wanted nothing to do with her anymore. Skye was off by himself somewhere. She had tried reaching out to him. She remembered when they were younger and used to talk all the time. Now, even when they were on the same side and Willow was trying to be nice, he was silent. So, being alone was something Willow was used to.

As Willow began to pass a door, she heard a thud from the room beyond. She peeked into the tiny window cut out of the metal door. She saw that Tanner had shoved Melody up against the brick wall. Had he given up on getting her to join them? Was he going to kill her? Willow's heart soared at the aspect of that. Maybe with Melody gone Tanner would love her.

However, Willow's hopes were dashed in an instance. The reason being, Tanner was now kissing Melody very passionately. Her stomach lurched. She had always wanted Tanner to look that way when he was kissing her. Her heart felt like it was being ripped apart.

She bolted down the hall as fast as she could. When she came to the last door, she swung it wide open. There was a stairwell leading downwards. She ran the steps two at a time. She felt tears streaming down her eyes and got angry with herself for being so weak.

She kept running until she reached a bathroom. She hurried herself into one of the stalls and then locked herself inside. Instead of sitting on the toilet, she sat on the ground and hugged her knees, still crying.

How? Why?

How could Tanner love Melody?

Why would Tanner love Melody?

How could he kiss her?

Why wouldn't he kiss Willow that way?

How could she sit there and cry?

Why wasn't she ripping Melody to shreds?

Willow felt herself spiral into rage. She felt herself morph, but she didn't care. It didn't hurt anymore. She wiped her tears with the back of a furry hand and unlocked the stall door, throwing it open. She stood up and walked to the mirror.

She looked into it and saw a wolfy face looking back at her with angry eyes. Willow stared at herself and then, in a fit of rage, punched the mirror, making it shatter. She drew her hand back and picked the shards out of her hand. It actually didn't hurt too badly.

It made no sense to Willow. Why would Tanner kiss Melody? She was weak and it was obvious that she wasn't going to be joining them. Melody was too stubborn to change.

But, maybe that was the reason. Maybe Tanner was trying to persuade her to join them. If that was the case, did it work? Willow knew that if it were her, she would give in if Tanner kissed her like that. However, Melody was different. Maybe it hadn't worked.

What was another reason? Maybe Melody had actually finally agreed. Maybe she had given up. But, would Melody give up or would she rather die than surrender? And if she had given in then why would she allow Tanner to kiss her? Did she love him? Tanner had said that Melody's feelings for Skye were all a lie, but did that mean she was actually in love with Tanner?

"Ugh." Willow groaned. She didn't want to think about any of that. It was too confusing. There were too many questions and too many possible answers. There was no way to tell without having all of the facts.

Willow took a few deep breaths and then looked into the shattered mirror one last time. She was back to her normal self. She sighed and decided to head back to her room. Maybe she could get some sleep and things would make a little bit more sense in the morning.

She walked the familiar path to the room she shared with the three boys. She sighed as she opened the door. She closed it softly and then turned around to find Skye, lying on her bed and looking at her, surprised.

"Hi Skye." she mumbled quietly.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked, shocking her. She hadn't expected that reaction at all.

"Nothing." she whispered. She looked at him for a moment and then, suddenly, she found herself sitting next to him and spilling out her guts.

"I walked past Tanner kissing Melody." she told him.

Tanner kissed Melody? Is that what had happened down in that room? Is that why Tanner had tried to strangle her and then threw her at him? And why was Willow upset about this?

"Why do you care?" he asked, curiously.

She sighed as if she was exasperated that she had to point this out to him. "I love him, that's why. I thought you would have figured that out by now."

Suddenly, Skye felt very stupid for not having thought of that before. Now it made sense why weak, sweet, sad Willow had joined the Director. What still didn't make sense was why Tanner had kissed Melody and why he, Skye, cared.

He decided to try to forget about that. So, trying to distract himself, he asked Willow, "Why do you love someone who beats the crap out of you?"

Willow sighed. "I don't know. Maybe I'm in love with the person he used to be before he joined the Director."

"Well, he's changed." Skye said. "Why don't you get over him and move on?" That would be the logical thing to do.

She sighed heavily again. "It's not that easy to move on." She looked at him, tilting her head. "You usually need someone else to help you move on." She kept her eyes on him and he began feeling uncomfortable. "Maybe falling in love with you could be easy." she whispered, coming closer to him. "Maybe it'd be good for both of us."

Skye didn't even have enough time to think. In a second, Willow had placed her lips on his and began kissing him. A burst of pain shot through Skye's heart. It didn't feel right. Willow had been right, falling in love could be easy, but he didn't want to. Not with her. So who did he want? Melody? After she had hurt him? Maybe he should try to fall in love with Willow. Maybe it would be good for him. Maybe he could forget everything. All the pain, all the suffering, all the dreams.

Suddenly, Willow pulled off him and then stared at him. She gave a weak smile and said, "Maybe falling in love with you won't be as easy as I thought."

Skye stared at her for a second and then said, "Well, I'm kinda tired. I had to wrestle Melody back downstairs." he lied.

Willow nodded sadly, grabbed a pillow and a very thin and worn blanket, turned out the light, and lied down on the floor. Even in the dark Skye could make out her body shaking from where she was obviously crying.

Skye looked up at Flint's bed above him. He felt the thoughts drift back into his head. The awful thoughts that kept him awake all night long. He found himself thinking of Melody.

He compared her to Willow tonight. Willow was beautiful in a simple little way. But Melody? Melody was strikingly beautiful. Fiercely beautiful. You couldn't help but look at her. Willow always had a sad, wistful look on her face. Melody was a generally happy person and she had the most amazing smile that Skye had ever seen. Willow lacked self-esteem. Melody radiated confidence, which made her seem even more beautiful somehow. Willow was rough around the edges. Melody shined like a bright star. Willow was a follower. Melody was a leader and a good one at that. Willow was quiet and reserved. Melody was witty, a smart aleck, kind, powerful, loud, funny, and smart. Those were the reasons he had loved her. But that was in the past. Or, was it?

Why could he think about Melody at night without getting angry, but during the day he couldn't even hear her name without loosing his temper? That was what didn't make any sense. He decided not to think too much on that.

Instead, his thoughts moved to how she had looked when he last saw her. She looked weak and scared. When he had told her that if he were Tanner he would have killed her, she almost seemed hopeful, like she wanted him to end her life. He found that very odd. He knew Melody wasn't one to give up so easily. She was a fighter by nature. He remembered that when he first saw her he was thrilled to see her broken and lifeless. But now? The more he thought about it, the more depressed he felt. It was sad to see such a once beautiful, powerful, fierce creature begging for death to come.

And what she had said right before he left. It had struck him somehow. It had tugged on his heart. Her voice cracked when she spoke and she sounded so sad. And she had said that she did love him and that she could even accept him being an Eraser. But had that been a lie? Or was what Tanner had been telling him false? He decided not to think on that either. He could spend hours wondering and never find the answer.

Why was he thinking about her at all? She hated him. He hated her. Maybe Willow was right. Maybe falling in love with her would be good for him. Maybe it would help him let go of Melody. But could he? Did he want to? He knew the answer to that. He could not fall in love with Willow. She was pretty and nice and tough (now) and right there, but she wasn't what he wanted. What he wanted was a dream that never really had been real.

Skye sighed and closed his eyes. He suddenly felt very tired for some reason. He managed to fall asleep that night, more confused then he had ever been. Even more confused then the day that he met Melody and the day that he kissed her combined.

**Ooh. Raise your hand if you think Willow is emotionally unstable. Don't you kind of feel sorry for her though? And, what's up with Skye? Is he actually breaking free of whatever weird hold Tanner has on him? Stay tuned for more chapters and we'll find out the answers to these questions and more. I'll update whenever I can. However, I'm shooting for Wednesday. I still want to keep a little suspense. I have to be entertained somehow. Well, see you guys whenever. Don't forget to review.**


	43. So This Is Love

**Hey everyone. I'm super glad that you are all loving my story. I know that it's a little sad right now, but it will get so much better later. You just have to hold on for a few more chapters. It's gonna be awesome. I promise. Okay, so this is another Skye chapter. It's a dream of his. Actually, it's more of a few flashbacks. I really hope you guys like this. I thought it'd be a cute chapter. So what if it's a filler? So, you should all read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666. And 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. They are seriously awesome. If you like my stories, you will love theirs'. Well, you probably want me to get on with this incredible chapter. I hope you enjoy this. Well, here we go. **

_Skye staggered to get back to his feet. It was useless because, as soon as he stood back up, Tanner knocked him down again. He couldn't take it anymore. He was sore and tired. He didn't even try to get back up._

_Tanner chuckled, looming over him. "Give up Skye? Are you tired of getting beaten up?"_

_Skye growled at him. He couldn't believe that he was ever friends with this guy. He'd changed, that was for sure. They both had. _

_Tanner chuckled again. "Yeah, I think you've had enough for now. Get out of here."_

_Skye didn't like having to get permission from Tanner to leave, but he got up and walked out of the training room anyway. He headed up the stairs and down the hall to the room he shared with Jewel. He wasn't going to tell the kid he'd been beaten up again. It'd just worry her. _

_He placed his hand on the doorknob and was surprised to hear talking. That was unusual. Jewel wasn't the kind of person who would talk to herself. But, wait. Did he hear two voices? There was only one way to find out. Skye pulled open the door._

_The first thing he saw was Jewel looking up at him, a smirk on her face. However, there was another girl sitting next to her. He'd never seen her before. He'd definitely remember seeing such a… perfect face before. She was new alright. He tried to get a good look at her without her noticing that he was staring._

_She had long, dark, wavy hair that framed her angular, tan face. She was looking at him curiously through a pair of large, crystal blue eyes that seemed to stare into his soul. They were the kind of eyes that drew you in and put you in a trance. She had a perfect mouth and Skye mentally slapped himself for even thinking about that. However, the feature that absolutely took his breath away was her 12 foot, steely grey wings. They looked magnificent, powerful, graceful. In fact, the girl gave off those feelings herself. She was beautiful, whoever she was. He couldn't help but think that. _

_He stared at her another second, lost. He realized what was happening. He was starting to like her. But, he didn't know her and, therefore, he couldn't trust her. How did he know that she wasn't some spy of the Director's? He didn't, so he scowled at her and slammed the door before walking over to Jewel and the intruder. He noticed that her face fell and he pretended not to care._

"_Who's this?" he asked Jewel. The new girl rolled her eyes at him._

"_My name's Melody." she said in an annoyed tone. "I'm guessing you're Skye then." She crossed her arms and glared at him with those piercing eyes of hers._

_So she wanted to play games huh? "You guessed right Princess." He copied her attitude and even crossed his arms._

_She stood up and pressed her finger to his chest. It was then that he noticed her arms were long and semi-muscular. So she was a strong one. "Listen here buddy. The name is Melody. You can call me Mel if you want, but don't ever call me Princess. Got it?" She was obviously trying to prove her strength._

_Skye threw his hands up and backed away, humoring her. "Fine Mel. Whatever you say." He paused a moment and asked, "What're you doing here anyway? Where did you come from?" His eyes fell on the sandwich in her hand and he suddenly realized what was going on. "And why are you eating my food? Jewel! Please tell me they don't expect her to stay here."_

_The little red haired girl cringed. "Okay, I won't tell you then." He groaned loudly. How could they stick this random stranger with them? She must've been a spy. "It's not her fault Skye. Why are you being so mean?"_

_Maybe because he didn't know who the heck this girl was or why she was there. "I'm not being mean." he said, defending himself. "I just don't know where she's going to sleep. We only have two beds. Wouldn't want her to have to sleep on the floor."_

"_Uh, actually I was thinking about getting out the hammock." Jewel said, twisting a lock of her hair._

"_You're going to make her sleep on the hammock?" Skye asked in mock concern._

"_Uh, no. I actually thought that you could." she told him, waiting for him to explode._

"_First my sandwich and now my bed? Is nothing sacred?" he asked. "Ugh, fine. She can stay. She won't last long anyway." he said, picking up a sandwich and walking to the closet. He was going to make sure the Director got absolutely no information._

_As he opened the door, the girl asked, "What is that supposed to mean?" If only she knew._

_Skye pulled a white t-shirt over his head and then pulled his wings through the slits. "Nothing. I just mean that, well we have to fight here. I don't know how you'll be able to take the beatings."_

"_We'll see." she said in a tone that sounded like it had a hidden meaning. Skye saw that he was going to have trouble with this girl. "And now to answer your other questions. I came from Arizona. My parents were former experiments at the School and they escaped. Apparently the School found out about me and took me. Anything else you wanna know?"_

_Skye rolled his eyes. "No, that'll do. The less I know the better." It was better not to know anyone's story, especially if that person was a potential enemy. It just made you feel sympathy for them and that could be very dangerous. He walked over and sat down on his old bed and looked at the ground._

_Melody turned to Jewel. "Uh, okay Jewel. Next question. How do things work here?"_

_Jewel grinned mischievously. "Hey Skye, do you know who Melody is related to?" she asked._

_He looked up, wondering what Jewel was doing. "No Jewel and I really don't care." he said and then he went back to staring at the ground._

"_Maximum Ride is her aunt." Jewel said. How was that even possible? Maybe it was a trick._

_He looked up again. "THE Maximum Ride?" he asked incredulously. "She was the only experiment to ever get out of the School. Well, besides the rest of her flock. How is she your aunt?" He didn't believe it. He was certain it was a trick._

_She rolled her eyes at him. "She married my Uncle Fang. But what does that have to do with anything?" she asked. Skye knew that Fang was a member of Maximum's flock. However, he didn't see how he was Melody's uncle._

"_We've been coming up with an escape plan for forever. We wanna get out of here. Can you help us? I mean, you said you're really smart and escaping is in your genes. Sort of." Jewel begged._

_Skye figured that was what Jewel wanted. The poor kid didn't know that he only tried coming up with escape plans to make her happy. In reality, he knew that there was no way out. And even if there was, this Melody girl wasn't going to help them get out. She'd probably report this to the Director._

"_Of course I will. Or, at least I'll try." she said, smiling. Skye didn't believe it for a second._

_However, Jewel gave her a huge hug. The poor little sap. "Oh thank you so much Mel. You really have no idea how much this means to us. Right Skye?" she asked._

"_Yeah, whatever. I'll thank her when we get out of here." he said rudely. Jewel could fall for it, but he wouldn't. He wasn't going to get his hopes up and then find out that his initial thoughts about this girl were true._

_Suddenly, the door swung open and a whitecoat by the name of Dr. Jackson came in. "You." he said, pointing at Melody. "Come with me." _

_Skye knew it. She was working for the Director. But then why did she look so scared as she was dragged out of the room? And why was she being dragged out? Skye didn't know, but it didn't prove anything. People who worked for the Director were often scared by the aspect about having to go to her office. And then again, he himself had to go see the Director a lot. Just because she was going to her office didn't necessarily mean she worked for her._

_Skye sighed and walked over to the closet, dragging out the hammock. Jewel helped him pin it up and then he lied down in it, thinking about this Melody girl and wondering if he could be wrong about her. He supposed, or perhaps hoped, that he could have been wrong. And, man, was she beautiful._

Suddenly, everything changed.

_Skye was sitting in a tree and it was raining. He looked next to him. Melody was sitting there, tears glistening in her beautiful, crystal blue eyes. Skye had never seen anything so sad in his entire life. It hurt his heart to see her like this, although he didn't know why. She turned away from him. His heart thudded in his chest for some unknown reason. He wished it would stop and then again, he didn't._

"_Just go away." she muttered. But Skye couldn't go. He didn't know why, but he physically could not get up and fly off without her. _

_Before he even knew what he was doing, he reached his hand out to her and, almost instinctively, placed her chin in it. He slowly turned her around to face him and then tilted her head back so her teary, crystal blue eyes would meet his ocean blue ones. His breath caught in his throat and he just stared at the beautiful creature for a moment in a way that he had never looked at her before. She looked at him, confused. Good. He was confused too._

"_What are you doing?" she asked. Her voice was soft and questioning. She looked afraid for a moment. Not because she was scared of what he was doing, but because she was scared that she was liking it._

_He stared at her a moment, unsure of what else to do, before he whispered, "I… really… dunno." He brought his face closer to hers and then placed his lips on her perfect, delicate mouth._

_He felt electricity surge through his body. It seemed as if he couldn't feel anything but her. His rough hands felt her soft, warm cheeks. He could also feel her long hair brush his arms and it made him shudder. He didn't know why he was kissing her, but he knew that it felt right and that he liked it, the closeness, everything. However, he wasn't sure how it felt to her because she wasn't doing anything back. That was when he slowly, and reluctantly, pulled away from her. _

_He looked into her confused eyes and suddenly found himself lost and dazed. What had that been? Was it anything for her? What did all of this mean? What was he supposed to do now?_

_He cleared his throat after a minute of total silence. "Uh… Jewel's probably worried you know. We should head back."_

"_First, tell me what that was." she demanded. She sounded very angry. _

_Skye sighed. "Okay, look. I don't even know what that was. So, can we just forget that it ever happened and get out of here?" He didn't want to talk about that, whatever it was. He wished that he'd never done it in the first place. And why had he done it anyway?_

"_What?" he asked, studying her face. "You don't think that was… you don't think I actually…" Didn't actually what? Love her? Did he?_

_Skye kept staring at Melody, clearly bewildered. He groaned, "I told you I don't know what that was. I just sorta… did it. I don't know why." No. He did know why. He had to admit it to himself. There was no escaping the truth any longer. Even though he tried his hardest to prevent it, he had actually fallen in love with her. There was no denying it. He groaned again. "This sucks."_

"_What does?"_

_Skye shook his head. "I think I do… love you. A lot." More than a lot, but he didn't want to admit it to her. _

"_What do you mean that sucks?" she asked, sounding a little offended. _

_He groaned again. Why was it so hard to talk to her? "Because I never wanted to be in love with you. When I first saw you, yeah, I thought you were pretty. And I knew that if I didn't make myself hate you I'd fall in love with you." How he wanted to avoid this._

"_And why didn't you want to fall in love with me?" she ventured. She looked almost… sad._

_He sighed. "You might as well know now that everything else is out." he began. "I thought you'd leave just like Tanner and Willow did. If I loved you and that happened I'd be crushed. It'd be worse than when they betrayed me." So much worse._

"_Well, I never wanted to fall in love with you either." Melody said bitterly. "You are the world's biggest jerk. I can't stand you! I hate you!" she yelled, making his heart hurt. Then she sighed in defeat. "No. I don't hate you. I love you." she admitted, making his heart leap out of his chest with happiness_.

_He couldn't believe it. It was too good to be true. This amazing, fierce, powerful, beautiful girl actually loved him back. It was a phenomenal concept. "Really?" he asked, unsure what this meant._

_She nodded and he felt happier than he could ever remember feeling in his entire life. She loved him. And he loved her. And nothing could rip them apart. Nothing could ruin his happiness. Nothing. Ever._

Unbeknownst to anyone, including himself, Skye smiled as he continued to dream of his powerful, beautiful, brave, cunning, perfect Melody. His true love. His heart. His soul mate. His world. His universe. His life. The very reason that he was still living and breathing.

**Cute huh? Well, I do try. So, that wasn't too depressing. Next chapter will be though. We go back to Melody. So, I'll update as soon as I can. Leave me some nice reviews guys. Bye.**


	44. A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes

**Goodness guys, where has my whole life gone. It's almost Christmas of my junior year in high school. This time next year I'll be applying for college and freaking out because it'll be my last Christmas as a kid. Time flies. I guess I should get on with this note. (Otherwise I might go on a rant about growing up and I don't think you all want that.) So, last chapter we saw Skye's dreams. They were his view of the day he met Mel and the day he kissed her. It was pretty sweet huh? I thought it would be cute to see what Skye was thinking through all of this. This chapter is back to Mel. However, she is also dreaming. Did you guys notice that the titles of these last two chapters are songs from Cinderella? I used to love that movie as a kid and while I was racking my brain for a decent title for the last chapter, I began singing. So, that is the reason behind these chapter titles. So, read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. They are amazing people and their stories are wonderful. I highly recommend that you read these magnificent stories. Okay then, let's get on with this lovely chapter. It's a little sad, but it still should be good. I really hope that you all like this. **

I was teetering on the edge of a cliff again. The wind whipped my hair all around me and I looked down below. It was a long way to the bottom and I actually intended on jumping. I was just having a few last thoughts.

I hated having to leave Jewel on her own. She was just a kid, no matter how brave and tough she acted. However, there was no real reason for me to live anymore. I was weak. There was no way I could stop Tanner and there was no way I would ever join him. Skye, my love, was completely and utterly lost to me forever. He had been sucked into a dark abyss and there was absolutely no way that I could pull him out.

"Why do you say that Melody?" I heard someone whisper.

"Because there's nothing I can do." I answered, not turning around. This voice wasn't going to stop me from jumping.

I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. "Come with me sweetie." I heard the voice whisper. "Come on." I felt myself being pulled away from the cliff against my will. I closed my eyes, too tired to struggle or to do anything else for that matter.

"Melody?" I heard the voice again. "Open your eyes. You can't shut out the world. It's not healthy. It just makes things worse."

I opened my eyes, slowly. The first thing I noticed was that I was on a beach. I felt the warm breeze and heard seagulls even though the sky was empty save for the bright sun. The water was glimmering in the light and I felt the warm sand between my toes. I felt peaceful and for a second I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I quickly dismissed this because I figured I wouldn't be alone in heaven. There would probably be other people.

The next thing I noticed was that I was in a white dress. It was simple and moved with the wind. I had never worn a dress in my life, but for some reason I liked this one. It was pretty.

The last thing I noticed was that Angel was next to me. She was wearing a dress similar to mine except hers was a light pink. Her blonde hair fluttered in the breeze and she smiled at me.

I didn't smile back. "Why did you bring me here?" I asked her. "I wanted to jump. I wanted to die."

She sighed. "You wouldn't have died. It's only a dream. You know that. I took you away from that. It'll only make you feel worse. You'll give up more quickly."

"I want to give up." I told her, my voice lacking emotion. "There's no reason to live anymore. I've lost Skye."

"He still loves you." she whispered softly. "He just doesn't know it. His mind's been clouded. He is lost, but that doesn't mean that he can't be found."

I shook my head. "I've tried everything. He barely talks to me." A tear fell down my cheek. "He hates me Angel." I leaned my head on her shoulder.

She placed a hand on my cheek. "Oh Melody, he doesn't. He just thinks that he does."

This just made me cry even harder. "How do you know?"

She sighed. "That's the one thing I don't know. However, Skye can be fixed Melody."

"How?" I asked, trying not to get my hopes up. I'd do anything to snap Skye out of this. I'd even kiss Tanner.

Angel smirked as if she heard me thinking. "The only thing that can fix Skye is you, Melody. I don't mean by talking to him. Just by being yourself and not giving in or giving up. He'll see soon. I promise."

"How do you know that?" I asked, lifting my head up off her shoulder.

She smiled. "I don't know the answer to that either. Maybe it's just common sense. Maybe it's just something I learned from experience. Who really knows?"

I wondered about that for a little while and then sighed. "Angel, I can't hope that he'll come to his senses at the last minute. I'm too weak. Any day now Tanner's going to ask me to join him again. If I refuse, he'll kill me."

Angel shook her head and sighed. "'No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true'"

I stared at her for a second, trying to remember where she had gotten that from. I knew it was from some movie that I had watched as a little girl a long time ago, but I couldn't remember what it was.

"So, what you're saying is that if I believe that Skye can change, then he just might. If I keep faith in him, then he'll realize that I really do love him and that it wasn't all a lie."

Angel smiled and nodded, happy that I understood her. "You have to believe in him. You can't give up Melody. Not on him and not on yourself. If you do, Tanner will win. It's what he wants. He knows that you two are stronger together. He's trying to rip you apart. He's hoping you'll give in just so you can be near Skye."

I though about that and it made perfect sense. However, I didn't know if there really was anything I could do about Skye. The way I saw it, he was stuck that way forever.

Everything went quiet for a moment and then I heard someone ask, "Mel?" The voice made my heart stop for half a second and then it began beating twice as fast. Angel, who was still staring at me, smirked.

I slowly turned around, coming face to face with Skye. I looked into those deep blue eyes. He was smiling at me. It was as if nothing had ever happened. It was as if he'd never been injected with the 'E' virus.

"Listen to your heart Melody." Angel told me. "It'll guide you. Skye needs you now. Don't give up on him so easily."

Skye reached out for me. I grabbed his hand. It was as cold as ice, maybe colder. He looked at me sadly. "I don't want to hurt you." he whispered. "It's not my fault. You have to forgive me."

Another tear fell down my cheek. "I do. I forgive you Skye. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

He looked at me, smiling. He brushed the tear off my cheek. "Thank you Melody. I needed to hear that." Then he slowly faded away.

I turned back to Angel. She was looking at the ground, sadly. "No, that wasn't Skye. It was just a dream image. I took it from your old dreams. I can't actually bring other people into dreams. Believe me, I've tried."

I sighed, not thoroughly convinced. How would dreaming and wishing help me at all? I needed some kind of miracle to help Skye. I was still convinced that I was going to die. I still hoped Skye would be the one to kill me. It'd be the best thing he'd ever done for me.

Angel shook her head. "Melody, listen to what I've said. Please. If you give up, then the world might be in terrible danger. Everyone will be. Normal people and experiments will be doomed."

Before I could ask her how she knew that, I was violently jerked awake. My eyes flashed open and I could see Flint glaring at me. Suddenly, I felt tired and weak. I hadn't eaten in days and my stomach ached badly. I wished I was still asleep.

Flint unhooked my chains, tied a blindfold tightly around my face, and handcuffed my hands behind my back. I was way too tired to fight back. He pulled me out of the room and, even though he didn't speak, I knew where we were headed. I was being taken to wherever Tanner was. He was going to try to get me to join him one last time. When I refused, I'd be killed.

As if my day wasn't already starting off bad enough.

**So, that's all for this chapter. I hope you all liked this a lot. I know, it was very depressing. I'm sorry guys. I told you that it has to get way worse before it can ever get better. However, things are about to get a little better soon. Just a couple more sad and morbidly depressing chapters to go. I know you all can hold on for a little while longer. And even if you can't, you still have to. Well, that's all for me right now. Leave me some nice, long, supportive reviews. I shall be updating as soon as I possibly can. I've got a ton of homework and it is getting close to the holidays, so just bear with me for a while. Until next time, see you all later.**


	45. Refusal

**Hey guys. I hope you all are ready for another chapter. This should be good. It's still Melody. So, just a quick little recap. Mel had a conversation with Angel in her dream about Skye and everything. So, loads more Tanner in this chapter. Joy. (Sticks out tongue.) This is the chapter before the really exciting one. You all my scream all you want. I'm working really hard on all of my stories. So close to getting the Harry Potter one and my two other Twilight ones posted. I might have a couple more Maximum Ride ones. We'll see about those though. I have several ideas. There's one for a story about Fang and Elisabeth's mom. It's sort of a prequel to 'With Wings Wide Open', but it connects with it later. Then I have some story ideas for melody growing up. There will be tons of time jumps though so it could get confusing. I might even do one about Skye growing up at the School, but that will have time jumps too. Like I said, we'll see on those. Okay, I'm about to get on with this chapter for all of you with ants in your pants. Just read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. They are just plain amazing. Okay, so let me go ahead and begin this chapter.**

I had been sitting still blindfolded, handcuffed, and tied to a chair for about a half hour. You would think that if Tanner wanted me so bad he wouldn't leave me in a room alone for so long. Maybe this was supposed to be a punishment, like when a small child is put in time out to think about what they've done wrong. However, I was not a small child and I had done nothing wrong, so this was pointless. In truth, everything the School did was pointless. I didn't know why they didn't just give up. It was obvious that someone out there somewhere was going to be strong enough to take them down. Maybe not me or my family, but someone. Maybe it was Jewel. That would be amazing. That would make me happy.

I wondered about many things in that half hour. What was going to happen to me? Was I going to die? Would Skye kill me? Would Tanner kill me? How would they do it? Would they inject poison in me? Would they rip me to bits? What would that feel like? (I didn't really want to think about that too much.) Would they shoot me? Would they stab me? Would they strangle me to death? What about Jewel? What would they do to her? Would they kill her too? Would they do something else? Would I see her in the afterlife? Was there an afterlife? What was it like? Was there just an endless nothingness? What would nothingness feel like? What would it sound like? Could I stand that for eternity? Would I go insane? Could you go insane when you were dead? What was going to happen to my family? Would they be okay? Would they all be captured and killed? Would they manage to escape? Would they hunt down Cory and Felecia and torture them? Would they kill them? I had so many questions and no answers. The future was unknown. I didn't even know that I was alive at that moment. What a scary thought that was. What if I actually was dead? Would I know if I was dead? Shouldn't I know?

Suddenly, I heard the door open and shut and then I heard a set of footsteps walk towards me. Okay, obviously I wasn't dead. Right?

The footsteps stopped suddenly and I felt someone brush my cheek with their hand. I recoiled, knowing it was Tanner. I heard him chuckle softly. I was definitely not dead unless I was in hell, which I doubted. I was generally a good person.

"I'm not going to hurt you Melody." he promised, slowly removing his hand from my face. "I just want to talk to you. You can have a civilized conversation with me for a moment can't you? Come on. Talk to me."

I growled, wishing I had the energy to kick him. "No, I cannot have a civilized conversation with you. I don't want to have any type of conversation with you. I want you to leave me the hell alone! And I thought I told you to keep your freaking hands off me!" I felt even more exhausted when I finished yelling. That should tell you how weak I was.

"You're in no position to be making demands Melody." he whispered calmly. "So, just hear me out."

When I said nothing, he continued. "I've told you a hundred times that you get a ton of perks when you join the Director. You get better food, you're safe, and you'd get to hang with Skye again. Wouldn't you like that Melody? Hmm? Wouldn't you like to be near Skye?"

My heart ached to the point where I thought it would burst. He was trying to bribe me with Skye. However, I knew he would not allow me to be 'with' Skye. "Yeah, but what would you do to me huh?" I asked. "I'd be subject to you wouldn't I? You'd want me to be your girlfriend right?"

He chuckled, clearly amused. "Something like that." he said. "Hey, you can consider that one of the perks if you'd like. It'd be something you get that no one else does. I never saw why you loved Skye anyway. I'm so much better in every way. I can make you feel things that you've never felt before." He brushed my cheek with his hand again and then kissed my forehead lightly. I recoiled again.

"Don't be like that." he whispered in my ear. "It's no fun when you do that to me. You know I love you right?"

He was sick and twisted. I growled, "You don't know what love is. All you want is the physical stuff. Well, you aren't going to lay a hand on me ever you perv."

He laughed loudly. "You think that's all I want Melody?" he asked me.

I growled again. "Duh. I'm not stupid."

He sighed. "No, you most certainly are not." He paused for a second and then said, "You really have no idea how beautiful you are. You have no idea how you make me feel. I want you so bad." he admitted.

"I don't care." I barked. "I'm Skye's and nothing you do will ever change that. You're pure evil, the single foulest thing that ever walked on the face of the Earth. You don't even deserve to be alive."

He laughed again. "Skye hates you and no matter what you do he always will. It's over Melody. It's time to face reality. You will be mine or you will be dead. You don't really have any choice in the matter. Well, not much of one."

"There's always a choice." I snarled at him. "I choose to be true to myself. I choose to not give in to you. I choose to die rather than join you and hurt innocent people. I choose to die rather than be your little toy. I choose to do what my family taught me. I'll never join you. Not in a million years. You can offer me anything you want, but I won't do it. Not even for Skye or my own life. You lose Tanner. You're never going to get me. Your big plan is over."

"You think I need you to carry out my plan?" he asked incredulously. "I'm smart enough to do it without your help. I only wanted you to… relive the stresses that I'll soon be acquiring when I've conquered the world."

So that was what Angel meant. The Director was just a pawn in Tanner's schemes. Everyone was. He probably planned to get rid of her. He was more insane and evil than I ever imagined. I wondered if anyone else knew any of this. Was I actually the only one who knew what his true intentions were?

"Well, I see you've figured it all out Melody." Tanner said slowly. "I figured you would eventually. Pity you can't do anything about it."

"Yeah, it is a crying shame." I said. "But if I can figure it out, then so can someone else."

He laughed like I just uttered a very hilarious joke. "You mean Jewel? That's a laugh Melody. We've already taken care of her. That half hour you were in here alone? I was attending to her. Skye helped me out."

My breath caught in my throat. He killed Jewel. Worse, Skye had helped him. I knew he was too far gone to be saved. I knew his situation was hopeless. If he really could be saved, he wouldn't have helped Tanner kill Jewel.

"You are a monster." I growled at him. I was freaking seething.

He chuckled. "Why thank you Melody."

Before I had even a second to react, Tanner hit me and I fell unconscious. I had no last fleeting thoughts; there had been no time for those. However, I did see something before I totally blanked. I saw Skye's face. He was happy, laughing. I honestly hoped that if there was an afterlife and I was ever reunited with him he would be like that again.

**Dun, dun, dun. The dramatic music says that this chapter is over. What's going to happen to Mel? Did Tanner really get Skye to help him kill Jewel? Was Mel right about Tanner's plan? What is going to happen to poor, trapped Skye? So many questions. A few of them will be answered in my next chapter. The rest will be answered in upcoming chapters. So, leave me some long reviews. I could use them. They might motivate me to write a longer chapter. Yes, that was a bribe. So, see you guys next update, whenever that will be.**


	46. Fight Or Flight

**Hey everyone. I finally got the chance to update. I've been snowed in and didn't have power for a while. It's back though. So, I have a Christmas present for you guys. I'm going to start posting my Harry Potter fanfic after break. I might get to it during break, but I don't know. It'll be pretty slow going at first since I'll also have this fic and my Twilight one to work on. I'll try my hardest though. Well, read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. They are so freaking amazing. No lie. So, here we go with my story now. I hope you like it.**

I groaned as I came back into consciousness. I don't think I'd ever been so sore or stiff in my entire life. I tried to sit up, but it was practically impossible. I had only managed to raise my head up a little when it smacked something hard. I winced with pain and then reached my arm out. I felt a plastic wall. That probably meant that I was in a cage. Well crap.

I heard a small groaning sound near me. With a small, fleeting hope, I called out, "Jewel? Is that you?" I held my breath as I waited for some kind of reply.

"Mel?" I heard a groggy voice ask. "Where are you? Where am I? Tanner told me you were dead. Am I dead too?"

I hoped we weren't. "I have no idea where we are exactly, but I think you're right next to me in a cage or something. Reach out and see if you can feel any bars."

I heard her make a grunting sound and then she muttered something under her breath. I suspected it was a cuss word. "Cat carrier." she said, disgusted.

I sighed. "If Tanner hasn't stolen my lock picking kit I'll try and reach it. It's sort of hard to move around in here." I fidgeted around for a minute, trying to get to my pocket. It was no use.

Before I could say anything to Jewel, I saw a blinding white light and heard laughter. "Go let 'em out." I faintly heard someone say. It sounded like Tanner, but I couldn't be too sure.

I heard someone jiggle the lock outside of my cage. I heard a 'click' and whoever it was stopped. Then, the door opened and I gasped in disbelief when I saw who had opened my door.

"Miss me Princess?" Skye asked, grinning evilly. He reached his arm in and yanked me out. I looked around and saw that Willow was dragging Jewel out of her cage. I also saw that we were in the training yard and it was night.

Suddenly, I felt Skye grab my neck. So, this was how it was going to end. I closed my eyes tight, heard a click, and then felt Skye let go of me. I opened my eyes again. Shock collar? Great.

I watched as Willow tossed Jewel over towards me and then she and Skye walked over with Tanner and Flint.

Tanner smirked at me. "Well, I thought we'd play a little game Melody." he told me. "See, we're going to beat the crud out of you until you die. However, if you decide it's been too much, you may change your mind about joining me. I'll think about considering it."

I glared at him, pretending this development didn't scare me to death. "If that's all you're doing then why is Jewel out here, why are we in the training field, and why the shock collars?"

His lip curled up in a creepy smile. "Well, we have to have a little bit of fun." He chuckled and then said, "Jewel is out here to make it more difficult on you. We know you'll want to protect her. We're out here simply because I want to be. The shock collars, well, they're a precaution."

I crossed my arms. I should've known. "So, when exactly are we going to start this game of yours?" I asked.

Tanner shrugged. "I suppose we could start right now if you like." The way he said it, you would've thought we were about to sit down and play checkers or something of that nature. Not a fight for my life.

I sighed. "Whatever." I said. I could've sufficed with Skye just simply snapping my neck, but of course, Tanner had to put on some big type of show specifically for his own personal enjoyment.

"Alright then." Tanner said, smirking. "Just give us a quick second to morph and then we'll get started."

Once again, I will spare all of you good and decent people the horribly nasty and rather terrifying details of the whole morphing process. I wish I could've been spared of having to watch the whole thing. When it was over, four bloodthirsty Erasers were staring at Jewel and me.

Jewel and I stared at them for a moment and then ran as fast as we could down the opposite end of the field.

"And let the games begin." I heard Tanner say. I chanced a look behind me. Tanner, Willow, and Skye were gaining on me fast.

Wait a freaking minute. Why in the hell was I running like a scared chicken? I knew I was going to die, so why not fight? I might be able to take one or two of them with me. I skidded to a stop, sliding on some gravel and bringing up a small cloud of dust. They were pretty close and my eyes scanned the ground. A rock. Perfect.

I picked up the rock and tightened my fist around it. All those years of playing softball as a little kid were about to pay off. I wound my arm up and let the rock fly at Skye.

What happened next shocked me. Skye caught the rock in his hand with cat like reflexes and quickly tossed it right back at me. I turned my head just in time. I heard the rock whiz past me.

I was in such shock that Flint managed to take me by surprise. He slammed into me, knocking me to the ground. He wrestled with me for a minute before I managed to kick him between the legs and he rolled off me.

I struggled to get to my feet. I was still very weak. However, I was better rested. As soon as I got up, I heard a scream and whipped my head in the direction of the eerie noise.

I saw Jewel on the ground, clutching the side of her face. It looked like Skye had swiped at her and scratched her face up pretty badly. She quickly stood up and punched Skye in the jaw, making him wince with pain.

"Did you think I'd forgotten about you Melody?"

I whipped back around and Tanner punched me hard in the face. I staggered back a few paces, blinking rapidly.

"Come one Melody." he whispered. "Just give up already. It'll all stop. You and Jewel will be safe. You won't get hurt anymore." He walked closer to me.

"I've told you a million times. My answer is and always has been: Hell no!" I lunged at him and managed to tackle him to the ground.

We rolled around on the ground, both trying to kill each other. I'd never wanted to hurt someone so much in my entire life. Tanner had ruined one of the few good things I'd had since I'd been kidnapped a couple months earlier.

Suddenly, someone grabbed me and pulled me off Tanner. I was kicking and trying to get free from whoever was holding me. Tanner was sucking in mouthfuls of air, trying to catch his breath.

"A… about time you idiots." Tanner gasped. "She almost killed me. She's freakin' stronger than she looks."

"Sorry Tanner." Willow said. She was the one who had pulled me off Tanner. "We rushed over here as fast as we could."

Tanner began yelling at them and I continued to try and break free. I could see Jewel and Flint fighting out of the corner of my eye. Skye was helping Tanner get up. If I was going to get away from Willow there was only one way to do it.

I bit down on her arm. She started cussing and screaming, but I didn't let go until I tasted blood. It was so gross, but it was necessary. She dropped me and I ran for Jewel as fast as I could.

"Jewel!" I shouted as I ran for her.

"Let her go!" I heard Tanner shout. "She can't go too many places! She'll have to give up eventually!"

I stopped completely dead in my tracks. Tanner wasn't going to kill me. He really was just trying to get me to give up. He'd never stop. I couldn't subject Jewel to this torture every single day for the rest of her life, so what was I going to do?

The whole world seemed to stand still as I came up with the stupidest plan in the history of the entire universe. I figured Max would be proud of me and the rest of the Flock would be trying to talk me out of it. However, I was stubborn like my aunt and I knew what had to be done. They only wanted me. They'd probably send Jewel back to the room she once shared with Skye and me or that's what I deluded myself into thinking.

"Mel!" I heard Jewel yell at me. "What're you doing?!"

I noticed that I was staring up at the sky. Day was just starting to break and the sky was grey and cloudy. I looked over at Jewel who was still fighting with Flint and actually winning.

I stretched out my wings without saying a single word. What was I supposed to say? I got into the air and started flying higher, slowly. Everyone stopped doing what they had been doing to look at me. I flew higher and faster.

"Mel!" I heard Jewel scream. "Are you crazy?! What are you doing?!" She went silent for a second and then screamed, "No! You can't!"

I heard Tanner laughing. "She won't. There's no way she'd give up her life."

I continued to climb higher and higher. I felt a small shock and fell a few feet before I picked back up again and continued to fly straight. I got another, harder shock, but I ignored the pain. It wouldn't matter in a few feet anyway. Either the intensity of the shock would kill me or I'd die when I fell.

Suddenly, I felt a huge shock and I shrieked in pain. I was falling fast and everything around me was growing dark. I felt the wind rush around me. I heard Jewel shriek and scream my name, but it was growing fainter and fainter with every second. Time seemed to stand still as I fell. Suddenly, my eyes closed and I heard and felt nothing. I was gone.

**Oh snap. Is Mel okay? What's going on? What happened? I suppose you all will just have to wait a while to find out. I will try and update as soon as I can. Well, see you all later.**


	47. Fish Gotta Swim, Bird Kids Gotta Fly

**Hey, I hope you all had a great Christmas or whatever you celebrate. Okay guys, my last chapter was a cliffhanger. This one doesn't help that situation. However, it does go to Melody or rather a flashback of an important event in her life. I figured you would enjoy this. So, read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. Here's another great chapter for all of you great people.**

_Day was just starting to break when Iggy tried to gently shake his three year old daughter awake. She wiggled deeper into her covers and turned on her other side, making a moaning sound. She loved her daddy so very dearly, but she loved to sleep even more._

"_Mel sweetie, get up." Iggy whispered, pulling the covers off her head and brushing her hair out of her face. "We're going somewhere."_

_She shook her head rapidly and burrowed even deeper under her covers, rolling up into a ball this time. She was too sleepy to go anywhere. Her internal clock said it was still bed time._

_He sighed to himself. His daughter was so much like him it sometimes amazed him. He ripped the covers off her tiny body, picked her up, and slung her over his shoulder. He didn't bother to take off her pajamas. In fact, he was still in his. There was no real need for changing._

"_C'mon kiddo." he whispered to her. "We're going on a little trip." He carried her out of her room, down the stairs, and into the kitchen._

"_Is Mommy coming?" she mumbled sleepily into his neck._

_Iggy was silent for a moment, making sure he didn't hear Elisabeth moving around upstairs. He knew she wouldn't exactly approve of this little excursion. "Nope Mel. Just you and me this morning." He slipped on his shoes and then shoved some on her feet as well._

_He made sure the house was silent once more, sighed to himself, and carefully opened the front door. It was an early summer morning, but it was already fairly warm. He shut the door softly and then walked off the porch. The grass was damp with dew as Iggy trudged through the yard with a tired Melody, who just wanted to get back in bed, in his arms._

_They walked into the woods and, after a while of walking, Mel mumbled, "Why are we goin' out so… early?" She yawned heavily and then burrowed her face back into her father's neck._

"_I want to show you something." he whispered to his little girl. The silence came back and Iggy listened for sounds of someone following them. Elisabeth would rip his head off if she knew what he was up to. She had specifically told everyone in the Flock not to. However, Mel needed to know, she needed to learn._

_They walked on for a while before they came to a clearing that Iggy knew very well. He and Fang had scouted out the place when they moved in the year before. Melody had been only two then. _

"_Mel, look around." Iggy whispered in his daughter's ear. "Tell me what you think. Tell me what you see."_

_Mel rubbed the sleep out of her eyes with tiny, pudgy fists. When she turned around to look, she gasped in amazement and her bright blue eyes widened in wonder. "Daddy!" she exclaimed happily. "It's so pretty." She then went on to give a very detailed description of the wondrous place for her blind father. _

_Iggy chuckled when Melody was finished. She had used some words most three year olds had never even heard before. However, it didn't shock him. She was bright just like her mother. Besides, what else did you expect from a child who started talking at just seven months old? She was a bird kid alright._

"_Can I get down?" she asked. "My wings want out."_

_Iggy smiled and kissed her on the cheek. "Sure kiddo. Down you go." he said as he placed her on the ground._

_Melody stretched out her tiny, grey wings and then ran around in circles. Iggy laughed to himself as he heard her giggle and shriek. When she finally calmed down, he put a hand on her shoulder and crouched down to her level._

"_Say, how'd you like to learn how to fly?" he asked in a loud whisper._

_She gasped. "But Mommy said not to." she reminded him. She had been taught to always follow the rules so her father telling her to break one came as a bit of a shock. "She said it's dangerous. She said someone might see me." She had never understood that. Her mother had explained that no one else had wings and that people didn't like things that were too different. _

_Iggy nodded. "She's right, but it's more dangerous for you to not learn." he explained. It was time she knew the truth._

_She tilted her head, confused. "What do you mean Daddy?"_

_He sighed. "There are bad people in this world. When Mommy and Daddy and the rest of the Flock were babies, we were stolen from our parents. We were taken to a horrible place called the School. They put wings on us and tortured us. We finally escaped thanks to Jeb. If the School found out about you, they'd try to kidnap you. I want you to be able to take care of yourself if something should happen. Understand?" He didn't want to frighten her, but she was old enough to know what might be out there. _

_She simply nodded. "Angel told me. She said she wasn't supposed to, but she did. I'm not scared Daddy." She kissed him on the cheek. "I just wanna fly and be safe with you and Mommy."_

_A tear rolled down Iggy's cheek. "That's my brave, big girl." he said, hugging her. He stood up to full height. "Let's get practicing." he said._

"_Yay!" she cheered and they began their lesson. _

_It wasn't even an hour before Melody was up in the air. She was so happy. She felt amazing. Uncle Fang had been right. Flying really was incredible. She couldn't understand why her mom didn't want her to learn._

"_Melody Isabelle Smith!" Melody looked down and saw her mother. She had on her mad face. That meant big trouble. "You get down here this minute young lady!"_

_Melody sighed and landed just like her father showed her to. "Did you see me? Did you see what I can do Mommy?" she asked sheepishly._

_Elisabeth, in a robe with her hair falling out of a messy bun, nodded. "Yes I did. It was very good." She turned to Iggy who was whistling innocently. "Now, I need a quick word with your father." She grabbed him and walked him over to a tree. Melody could hear her talking to him._

"_What in the heck were you thinking?" she asked in a loud whisper. "Someone could have seen her."_

"_But no one did." he told her in a calm voice. He was used to Elisabeth's tendencies of freaking out and jumping to conclusions._

"_This time." Elisabeth whispered angrily. "Didn't I tell you and everyone else not to let her fly?" She was hurt that he would go behind her back and put their daughter in danger._

_Iggy nodded slowly. "But you can't do that to her Elisabeth. She's a bird kid. She was meant to fly."_

_Elisabeth shook her head and put her hand to her forehead. "Kid's were only meant to fly on airplanes. We're freaks of nature Iggy. Do you want our daughter growing up, knowing that she's a freak? Isn't having wings she has to hide enough?"_

_Iggy sighed and shook his head. "I just don't want her growing up not knowing who she is. She's a bird kid. If I didn't teach her to fly, she'd try it on her own when she got older. She could get seriously hurt then."_

_Elisabeth turned her head to look at her daughter. She was watching her parents. She hated them fighting and she knew that they hated it too. She knew they loved each other so much. _

"_What makes you so sure she would?" Elisabeth asked her husband quietly and calmly._

"_Well, she's just like you for one thing." he told her. "You think I haven't seen you sneak a fly every now and then?" Iggy chuckled and took his wife's hand. "Elisabeth, wouldn't you want to fly if you were her?"_

_She tinged pink, took in a deep breath, and nodded slowly. "You're right." she whispered. "I never intended to keep her from flying. It's just that… when…"_

_Iggy nodded knowingly. "When that guy broke into Dr. M's house when Mel was just a baby. I know you were scared. Heck, I was scared too."_

"_To this day we still don't know if that was just a regular burglar or what." Elisabeth reminded him. For all they knew, it had been a whitecoat. If it was, then the School knew about Mel. That was why they had moved. That was why everyone had moved._

"_You can't let fear run your life." Iggy said sagely. "We gotta let her grow up. We gotta show her we believe in her."_

_Elisabeth looked back towards her daughter and sighed. She knew he was right. It was time to let go of her fears. "Mel sweetie, come here." she told her daughter._

_Melody came running and wrapped herself around her mother's leg. "Mommy, please, please don't fight with Daddy." she begged. "I won't fly anymore. I promise. I'll never ever do it again. Just don't fight."_

_Elisabeth almost cried. "Sweetie, it was wrong of me to tell you not to fly. I was just worried about you getting hurt, that's all."_

_The little girl looked up at her mother. "Really?" she asked. "You aren't mad at me or Daddy?"_

_Elisabeth shook her head. "No, I'm not mad." She got down to her daughter's level. "Sometimes people do stupid things and use bad judgment when they're scared or when they're threatened. Do you understand?"_

_Melody nodded, threw her arms around her mother's neck, and hugged her rather tightly. "I promise I'll stay safe. I'll do whatever you tell me to do. I'll listen."_

_Elisabeth did cry at that. She was so lucky. She hugged her daughter for a moment longer and then pulled back. "Okay, but we need some rules." she told her baby girl._

_Melody nodded. "Like what?" she asked._

_Elisabeth sighed, thinking. "You can't go flying by yourself. Someone has to be with you."_

_Mel nodded and Iggy added, "You also have to ask to go. And if we tell you that you can't fly, you won't."_

_Mel nodded again and Elisabeth added, "When you start school, we'll only go on weekends and during vacation. We'll pretend we're going camping and find a nice place."_

_Melody nodded again. "Okay." she yawned sleepily. "Can we go home and get some breakfast?" she asked._

_Her dad chuckled. "Sure kiddo." He picked her up and placed her on his shoulders. He then turned to Elisabeth. "Come on Mommy. Let's race."_

_Elisabeth smirked, seeing the gleam in his blind eyes. "Oh, you are so going down." she joked._

"_We'll see." he said and then he took off running._

"_Hey, no fair!" Elisabeth shouted, running off after them. "I wasn't ready. Iggy, you cheat!"_

_Melody giggled as her mother caught up. "Mommy's a slowpoke. Mommy's a slowpoke." she chanted until they got home. The race was a tie and Iggy made chocolate chip pancakes and bacon. _

**Okay, that's the end of this. I really hope you like it. I worked hard on that. So, I hope you have a merry whatever you celebrate. This is a present from me to you. I'll be updating soon.**


	48. Is This Supposed To Be Heaven Or Hell?

**I hope everyone liked my last chapter. I worked hard on that just for you guys. So, this chapter fixes that cliffy I left you all with. I'm sure you'll like it. Anyway, read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. Alright, here's my next chapter guys. Like I said, I'm sure you'll like this a lot.**

I was sure I was dead. There was no way I survived that fall. So, that made me wonder where I actually was. I slowly tried to move, my eyes still closed. I noticed my head was killing me. I thought there was no pain in heaven. What the crap?

"Hey, she's waking up." That was Jewel's voice. Why could I hear Jewel? Okay, I wanted answers.

I cracked open my eyes. I was in a forest. Judging from the sun's position, it was mid-afternoon. I saw Jewel smiling at me and began freaking out, silently of course. What the heck was going on? How did I survive? How did I get here?

"Welcome back Mel." Jewel said, still smiling. "Glad to see that you're okay."

"Almost gave me a heart attack. I thought she was a goner." said a voice that caused my heart to beat extremely fast and my brain to tell me to go on major defensive mode.

I whipped my head around at the direction of the voice. Sure enough, Skye was standing there, flipping the blade on a pocket knife open and closed, staring at me just like he used to.

I clenched my hands into fists. "What are you doing here you traitor?!" I yelled at him. I was furious. I wanted to attack him, but I knew I was far too weak.

"Mel, it's okay." Jewel assured me. "Everything's fine."

"Fine?!" I shouted. "He freaking betrayed us! How can that be fine?! How can that ever be fine?!"

Skye closed the pocket knife and slowly walked over to me. He knelt down in front of me. "Look, I don't blame you. But you gotta listen to me. There are some things you need to hear. Let me explain."

"You have one minute." I growled. "Start explaining."

"One minute?" he asked incredulously.

"Tick tock." I told him.

He sighed. "Okay, I don't fully understand how Tanner controlled me. All I know is that when I saw you fall, something inside me snapped. I flew after you as fast as I could and caught you. Then, Jewel and I got you out of there. I can't even figure out how we did it. Of course, we made a pit stop at that truck you stole and grabbed the back pack."

Jewel nodded. "He's telling the truth Mel. He saved your life and mine. He even fought Tanner. It was amazing."

I stared at Skye. His eyes were no longer cold and empty. They were sad and pleading. He looked truly sorry for what happened. I still wasn't sure everything was okay.

I sighed. "Thanks. I guess." I was very grateful that he saved Jewel and me. However, I wasn't sure that I could trust him anymore. Things were never going to be back to normal. Skye was still an Eraser. A dangerous one at that.

He smirked. "No problem. I had to make up everything somehow. I figured saving you should help fix that a little."

I shook my head. "I never said anything was fixed. I want you as far away from me as possible. I don't care where you go, just go and never come back."

"No." Jewel told me, her eyes wide. I knew she was not happy with me at the moment. "You can't do that Mel. You just can't. He didn't mean any of it. Weren't you listening?"

"I was listening." I told her calmly. "But if Tanner can make him do those things once, he can make him do it again. And besides that, he's a freaking unstable Eraser. If he gets mad, he could kill us."

Skye shook his head rapidly. "Uh uh. You aren't getting rid of me that easily." he told me, smiling. "I can control it now. I only morph when I want to now, just like the Erasers in your parents' day did."

I sighed. "What if you lost control?" I asked him. "I can't risk that. I'm sorry Skye, but you have to go." I felt my heart break when I said those words. It seemed that, no matter what Skye did to me, I was still going to love him with all my heart. I couldn't help it.

Skye sighed and looked over me. It was like he was memorizing every detail of my face. Maybe he was. Maybe, even though I was being horrible to him, he never wanted to forget me. "If that's what you want. I mean, I suppose you're right. I don't wanna put you in danger. And if I hurt you again, well, I'd die." That hurt my heart too.

He started to get up, but Jewel shouted, "Wait! You can't go. I know what we can do. Or rather what Mel can do."

We both turned to her, puzzled. "What are you talking about?" I asked her, wondering what she meant.

"Yeah, what are you talking about kiddo?" Skye asked. "What can Mel do?"

Jewel grinned mischievously. "Mel can control water." she said simply.

"And how does that help our problem?" Skye asked, confused.

I, however, understood exactly what she meant. She wanted me to try and get the Eraser DNA out of Skye by controlling his bloodstream. It was an interesting thought. It was also very risky. Was I willing to potentially kill him in order to make sure he couldn't hurt Jewel and me? Was I willing to give him up and not even try so I could at least know he was alive?

"I don't know if I can Jewel." I told her, not even bothering to explain anything to Skye. "Something could go wrong."

Jewel sighed, defeated. "Mel, we need to do something. It's either that or you're just going to have to deal with him being an Eraser. I'm not letting you make him leave. I know you don't want him to go away either. You love him."

"Wait, wait." Skye said before I even had time to think about what Jewel just told me. "What are you guys talking about?"

I sighed. "She wants me to expel the Eraser DNA by controlling your blood stream."

"Could you?" he asked, looking hopeful.

"Maybe. But you could die." I explained.

"I'm willing to take that risk." he told me. "If it means that I might get to stay with you."

"No!" I shouted and then covered my mouth with my hands. Crap. Why had I said that? I didn't even know if I could trust him anymore. "I… Okay, you can stay. First sign of trouble and I swear I will do whatever it takes to protect Jewel and myself. I'll even kill you if I have to."

Skye hesitated for a moment and then nodded. "You gotta do what you gotta do."

Jewel tackled me into a hug. "I knew you couldn't just make him leave like that! Oh Mel, thank you! Everything's back to normal! I'm so happy!"

I just nodded slowly. I didn't want to tell her that things would never be the way they once were. I couldn't trust Skye anymore. No matter how much I loved him. I was just going to have to get over him.

Skye looked up at the sun. "It's gonna get dark soon. Someone better go get firewood."

"I'll do it." Jewel volunteered happily. "Skye, you can take first watch tonight if you want. I guess I could do it too."

"No, I'll do it." I told them, causing them both to laugh.

"You fell, like, fifty feet." Skye told me. "You need all the rest you can get." He then turned to Jewel. "I'll take the watch. You just go get that wood."

She nodded and then grabbed a spear. I guess Skye had made it while they were waiting for me to wake up. "I'll try to catch something too. We need food." She then headed away from our little camp.

Skye looked at me and smiled uneasily. "Well, uh, guess I better get back to fixing up our camp." he said. "You just, uh, sit tight okay Princess."

I sighed and laid back down on the ground. I listened to every move he made. I was not going to let my guard down. I was not going to relax myself. I had to remember what he had done to me. I had to remember what he had done to Jewel. She may have been able to forgive him, but I couldn't. I wouldn't.

**So, sorry that was so short. The next chapter won't be that long either. I'm working on those other fanfics I want to post. They're coming along great. Anyway, I'll try and update as soon as I can. Bye.**


	49. The Tracker

**Yay! Another chapter! Also, the last chapter of 2009. Looking back, this was an okay year. Well, fanfiction and band wise anyway. The rest of it… sucked. Okay, well this chapter goes to the School. However, this chapter isn't going to focus on the person you'd think it would. You may have even forgotten that… Never mind. I don't want to spoil anything. Okie dokie, let's get on with everything else. Please take the time to read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. These stories deserve many spectacular reviews. So, on with this chapter. I hope you'll like it.**

Cory took in a deep, shaky breath. It was quiet out in the hall and he couldn't stand it any longer. The Director wanted to see him again. He hadn't felt so nervous since he was in the first grade and was in the principal's office for beating up those goons who messed with Melody. Sure, he knew she could take them by herself, but when he saw she wasn't going to do anything, he had acted instinctively. The Director had been furious, so he told her he had protected her purely to get on her good side so he could observe her more closely. This was acceptable and he hadn't been punished. In fact, he had been highly praised.

He was getting restless so, out of pure impulse, he turned his head to the side. That creepy kid, Flint or something, was glaring at him and he turned back to face the wall in front of him.

He had known why he'd done that. All those years ago in the office, he had turned to look at Melody and he had felt much better knowing that she was grateful. She was smiling at him, her face unharmed. He had been glad she wasn't hurt.

Somehow, even though he wasn't supposed to, he had fallen in love with her that day. It just couldn't be helped with Melody. Everyone loved her except her enemies, but even they admitted that there was something special about her.

Cory couldn't explain how it had happened or how he knew. From that day on, he secretly made plans about telling her everything and then flying away with her someplace where no one would ever find them.

However, that hadn't happened. He had simply continued to report on her to the School until her capture, just like a good evil lackey. He hated himself for that, among a bunch of other things, a lot.

It was completely his fault that she had fallen in love with that knuckle head, Skye. Ooh, he loathed that guy with every fiber of his being. He didn't deserve Melody. He'd betrayed her. He'd hurt her.

However, was he, Cory, so different from Skye? Hadn't he also hurt her? Granted, she didn't know that he had, but still. Maybe, if he told her everything like he had dreamed about, things would be different. For one, she wouldn't have gotten captured. For two, maybe she'd love him.

But what if Skye was really her soul mate? Maybe he had done Melody a favor by helping in her capture. Maybe if he had told Melody everything and they had run off together, she'd feel like something was missing and she'd be sad all the time. A sad Melody was just plain wrong. Sick and wrong. It was like a bird that could fly, a fish that couldn't swim, a horse that couldn't run, a child that couldn't laugh. Skye had made her happy… once. For that, Cory owed him a lot. It proved that what he had done had one (only one) positive effect on the girl he loved.

Suddenly, the door to the Director's office swung open and Cory walked inside, jumping a mile when the door slammed behind him. He made his way over to the Director's desk. She was sitting in her chair, flanked by her faithful pet vulture, Tanner.

"What am I in for this time?" Cory asked, faking calmness.

The Director frowned. "This is no time for trying to be funny Cory." she told him sternly.

"Wasn't trying." he told her, sitting down in the chair in front of her and propping his elbows on the desk.

She grimaced, clearly disgusted with him. "Clearly."

Tanner rolled his eyes. "I don't see why you're entrusting the Tracker with this job." he told her. "He's in love with Melody." he said, smirking.

"That's ridiculous." Cory lied. "Why would I love her? She's nothing."

The Director turned to Tanner. "You be quiet. Because of you, she escaped and Skye turned on us."

Cory's heart jumped at that thought. Melody had managed to escape? She was out there, flying free? She was safe and away from this hell hole? He had hoped she'd get out. And Skye had turned? Well then, Tanner wasn't as powerful as he thought. He couldn't even control simple minded Skye.

"It wasn't my fault." Tanner muttered darkly, his eyes slits. Well, someone was obviously pissed.

The Director sighed and turned back to Cory. "I have a job for you Cory. A very important one."

"What is it?" he asked, cracking his knuckles. The Director usually made him run around the country to do errands. Kidnap a kid here, summon a whitecoat there, blow up a few buildings, and junk like that. Personally, he thought it was a dull and thankless job.

She grinned, creeping Cory out. She pulled open a desk drawer and reached inside. "I want you to kill Melody and little Jewel. Skye's to be brought back here for me to deal with." she said, placing a gun in front of him.

Cory stared at it, shocked. Kill Melody? He couldn't do it. He looked up at the Director and shook his head.

"No thanks. I think I'll pass." he told her. "See, I'm a Tracker, not a fighter. Too messy."

The Director looked at him, her eyebrows raised. "Oh, really. I seem to recall that you once beat up two boys to rescue little Melody."

Cory shrugged. He couldn't let the Director know that he couldn't kill the girl he loved, but he had to get out of it. He looked to Tanner. "Why can't he do it?"

"Two reasons." the Director explained. "One, he's failed me too much already. Two, you can track her. I figured it'd be easier if you found her and then killed her too." She stared at Cory hard. "If you don't do this, I'm going to have to think that you do indeed love Melody. Then I'll have to destroy you too."

Cory swallowed hard and stared at the gun. What was he going to do? His life or Melody's? Which was more important? What would Mel do if the situation was flipped? Simple, she'd pick his life. However, there was no way it'd be flipped. Mel was braver than he was. She wouldn't have gotten mixed up in all of this.

So, what was he going to do? His life or hers?

He sighed and picked up the gun, making his choice. He pocketed it and stood up. The Director was beaming at him.

"Wise decision." she told him.

He nodded. "Can I go now?" he asked.

"Of course." she told him.

Cory began to walk out of the room when the Director called back to him. He turned around, seeing Tanner glare at him like he wanted to kill him.

"Remember to bring me back Skye." she told him, grinning that creepy evil grin of hers. The one that always sent a cold chill down Cory's spine.

He nodded and walked out the door. He already knew where Melody was. He could sense her. No one understood how his tracking worked. Frankly, neither did he. All he knew was that, for some reason that he didn't understand, he could only track Melody. And now, he was off to find her.

**Well, that was sort, but oh well. I warned you last chapter that it would be. So, this was shocking huh? Wonder what'll happen next. A fight perhaps? We shall see. Won't be updating again until next year. See you all then.**


	50. Oh The Agony

**Hey guys! I decided to** **ring in the New Year with a new chapter! Maybe this is a sign that this will be a good year. I sure hope so. Well, before I begin, I have two new stories posted. Go on my profile and check them out. Also, read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. Okay, let's see what's going on with Mel.**

It was freezing cold. I was huddled up, shivering, on the cold, hard ground. Skye was on watch and I had pretended to fall asleep so that he wouldn't bother me. Jewel was sleeping a little way away from me, shivering as well. I was so tired, but I couldn't go to sleep.

Why couldn't I get some shut eye? I didn't trust Skye as far as I could throw him. I had to stay awake to make sure nothing happened in the middle of the night. No one was getting shoved in a sack while I was around.

So, I stayed awake, listening to every move Skye made. Every breath he took. Every word he muttered to himself although I couldn't make out what he had said. Never mind that the coldness was making me numb. Never mind that I was dead tired.

After an hour that felt more like forty years, I heard the sound of footsteps approaching me. Crap. Skye. I didn't move a single, solitary muscle. I'd get him in a sneak attack.

I felt him close to me and heard him crouch down beside me. "I know you're awake Mel so you can stop the charade." he whispered gently. "I'm not going to hurt you."

I continued to say nothing. I knew he was telling the truth. A fight with me would not be a good idea without backup. Sure, he was an Eraser, but I had Jewel, brains, and a very pointy spear. I'd love to see him try anything.

He took in an angry breath. "Dammit Melody, listen to me. I just want to talk to you. Why are you being so stubborn? Don't you love me?"

I was not going to grace him with a response. I had nothing to say to him and he had nothing to say to me. It was over. That was all there was to the matter. My heart had been broken beyond repair.

"What do you want me to do to prove that I wouldn't hurt you for anything in the whole world?" he asked me, his voice shaking.

"You already hurt me." I muttered darkly.

"What?" he asked, not having heard me. A breeze had carried away my words.

"You already hurt me." I told him, louder this time. "I trusted you. I loved you. You betrayed me. You hurt me."

God how he had hurt me. Not just physically, but emotionally. I was forever damaged. There was no fixing me. I was like a vase that had been shattered.

"I told you." he whispered angrily. "It wasn't my fault. Every night I would dream about you. You're perfect face haunted me. I saw you, fierce, powerful, graceful, magnificent, streak through the sky like a bullet. Every time I saw you, hurt and in pain, my heart ached. I wanted to forget you. I tried. But Mel, it's impossible to just forget you."

That was the single most beautiful thing I had ever heard in my life. Too bad it was also the biggest lie I had ever heard. "I gave you everything." I told him. "I gave you my whole heart. I spilled all my doubts and fears to you. I trusted you with my most precious secrets."

_Why did you do it? _I thought. _Why did you say it?_

Tear spilled and I decided to give him some pain. I sat up and stared him directly in the eyes. "When I looked at you, I used to see everything I had ever dreamed about. I saw someone who could love me even with my wings. I saw someone I could be myself around."

He stared back at me hard, trying to not show weakness. "What do you see now? Huh Princess? Tell me what you see."

I pursed my lips together. White hot tears were rolling down my cheeks. I was so angry that I couldn't see straight. "Now? I see a monster. I hate you. I hate what you've done to me." I cried harder, losing control.

I hated crying. Not only because it was weak, but because it meant that Skye had control of me. He could make me feel these awful things. He could still hurt me.

I buried my face in my hands. I didn't want him to see my face. I knew I shouldn't have let him in my heart in the first place. Didn't I tell myself I would get hurt? Didn't I know it would end badly? Why didn't I listen?

The pain was unbearable. I wanted my mommy. She was supposed to help me through heart break. But she wasn't here, so I had to get over it on my own.

"Shh, shh." he whispered soothingly as if everything was okay. I felt him wrap his arms around me. He kissed my cheek and I tried to wriggle free of his grip.

"Don't touch me." I ordered, my voice thick with tears. "Let go of me. Let go you ass."

I continued to struggle. It hurt me more that he was touching me. Wasn't talking to me enough? Wasn't lying to me enough? Why did he have to break me even more?

He let go of me and stared into my face. "You can't want this." he whispered in disbelief. He closed his eyes and banged his fist on the ground. "You can't want this. I refuse to believe it."

"You think I wanted this?" I asked incredulously. "You brought this upon yourself. I can't trust you anymore."

Skye actually looked on the verge of tears. "There has to be something I can do." He looked to the sky. "God, please no. Not this." He turned back to me in hopes of getting me to listen to his pleas. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean any of it."

I stood up, slowly and looked down at him. "No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I ever loved you in the first place."

His face crumpled when I said that. It was so sad and I almost broke down and sat in his lap and cried and made up with him like a stupid sap. Almost. Not quite. I hadn't completely lost my ever loving mind.

I took a step forward and wobbled a little. I had been sitting down for far too long that day. This was the first time I had moved since I had been falling to my death.

_Why did he have to save me? _I thought. I had deluded myself into thinking that was the only reason I had allowed him to stay. I felt obligated. That was all.

_Things would be much easier if he had just let me die. Maybe that way I would've been able to love him. Now I can't. _

I was slowly making my way over to the backpack. I needed to let my parents know that I wasn't dead. Jewel had told me she had updated the blog before we tried to rescue Skye.

I felt Skye grab my arm and I turned around. "Didn't I tell you not to touch me?" I asked. "Let go."

"What Mel?" he asked angrily. "You gonna blog about this to the whole world? You gonna make me look like the bad guy again? You gonna whine about this to your family?"

I glared hard at him. I didn't know him anymore. Had I really known him in the first place? I mean, Skye had proved to me that he was a great actor once. What if that's actually what he had been doing all along?

"It's my business what I write. That's none of your concern." I growled at him. "I will do whatever I want. You don't order me around."

Skye looked like he was about to say something, but he quickly shut his mouth. He must have thought better of it. However, he still hadn't let go of my arm.

I tried to pull free. "I told you to let go."

"Shh." he ordered.

"Not until you let go."

"Would you shut up?" he told me. "I hear something coming. Maybe if you kept your mouth shut, you'd hear it too."

I did hear it. There was a rustling in the trees. Either Skye was a better actor than I thought or this had not been his doing.

"Who's out there?" I called out.

Skye put his hand over my mouth. "What are you doing? We don't want them to find us."

I bit his hand and he jerked it off my mouth. That ought to teach him to tell me what to do.

We continued to stare in the direction of the noise. The rustling was getting louder and, suddenly, someone came through the trees. I could actually see who it was and I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Right in front of me was a boy with dark hair that had recently been cut. He had dark eyes and kept his hand in his pocket. The thing that shocked me the most was the wings. They were huge, cream colored with tan and chocolate brown streaks.

"Cory Reynolds?" I asked, thunderstruck.

No, this made no sense. Cory was normal. He did not have wings. He was not standing in the middle of a forest, staring at me and Skye. This was all stress. Or maybe I was dreaming. Or maybe I had finally gone crazy. Cory was not a bird kid. No way.

"This is freaky." Skye whispered, staring at Cory.

Cory grinned at me. "Hey Mel." he said as casually as if we were standing in the school hallway at our lockers.

I shook my head and blinked rapidly. Cory didn't go away. This was all real. Skye could see him too. He had just spoken to me.

"Cory?" I asked again. "What are you doing here? Why are you here? How did you find me?"

He continued to grin as he said, "I'm here to kill you Melody."

**Cliffy. Sorry guys. I listened to a lot of depressing music to help with this chapter. Clearly. Anyway, I will update as soon as I can. School's about to start again, so I have no idea how frequent the updates on any of my stories will be. See ya.**


	51. Trust Issues

**Okay, I'm back. I hope you're all ready for another chapter. That last one was a cliffy. A major cliffy. I hope you're all excited to see what happens next. So, read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. Okay, let's get this party started already.**

"What?!" I asked incredulously. Wasn't it enough that I just found out my best friend was a mutant? Why did he have to want to kill me too? As if my life wasn't bad enough.

Skye was in a protective stance, his eyes glued to Cory, who was still smirking. "You're not going to touch her." Skye growled.

Cory laughed, taking a step toward us. "Oh, I'm so scared of the big bad wolf." He laughed harder at his joke. "What Skye? Gonna morph?"

Skye growled angrily and let go of my arm. "No. I don't need to be an Eraser to take care of you!" he yelled.

"What's going on?" Jewel asked from behind us.

We all turned to look at her confused face. Her eyes flashed from me, to Skye, to Cory and suddenly she understood. She walked beside me, glaring hard at my so called best friend.

Cory nodded. "I was just about to ask where little Jewel was." he said, smiling at her.

"Shut up." I told him angrily. "Look, you want me? Come get me." I said. "Just leave Jewel alone."

Cory smirked when he noticed I hadn't said anything about Skye. "Actually, my orders are to kill you and Jewel and then drag Skye back to the Director." he informed me.

"And how do you plan to do that?" Skye asked, standing in front of me. "You touch them and I'll rip you apart."

Cory clenched his teeth, his angry eyes glued to Skye. "I believe I was talking to Melody." He looked at me, smiling. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions for me, Mel."

I nodded. "Yeah, I do." I told him. "Tell me why I shouldn't rip you apart myself." Like I needed Skye to protect me. I could take care of myself just fine.

He smiled that charming smile of his. "Because Mel, you don't understand. I've been your best friend for so long. None of this makes any sense. You always thought I was normal. You're confused."

He knew me way too well. Guess that was my own stupid fault for letting him get so close. "Start talking." I growled.

He nodded. "Okay." He bit his lip, thinking. "I was born to be a Tracker." he explained. "That's how I found you. My job from the time I was very small was to spy on you and feed information about you to the Director so she would know exactly what she was dealing with."

That explained what he had been doing in Memphis and how Willow had found us. I mentally slapped myself for thinking that had all been merely a huge coincidence. It was so obvious now that I thought about it.

"So, I take it you were the one who found out where I was living." I said, angry for being so stupid.

He chuckled, shaking his head. "No. I was too young then. Someone else broke into Dr. Martinez's house when you were a baby. They're the reason the School knew you existed. Thanks to your parents fake names, they were able to track you down when your parents bought your new house."

I took in a breath. That made sense. The Director had went to school with my parents when they were younger. All my life, I thought we were safe. I never understood my parents paranoia. Not even they were careful enough.

Cory smiled as he saw the gears turning in my head. "Now you're wondering why I haven't killed you yet."

All I could do was nod slowly. I couldn't believe what I had just heard, but it all made perfect sense. The Director had wanted Cory to get close to me so it would be easier for him to watch me. That was why he had been my friend. The crush thing had been a lie. He pretended so maybe I would get even closer to him. His mother had also been fake. She was probably a whitecoat. All those times I went over to his house. If I had known then… what?

Cory reached in his pants pocket and pulled out nothing. He began reaching inside every pocket, pulling the lining out so I could see. There was nothing. He had no weapons. Just a bunch of lint.

He grinned. "The Director gave me a gun. I ditched it as soon as I was far away from the School. I tracked you down because I wanna help you."

"Why should she trust you?" Jewel asked, crossing her arms. "You've been lying to her for years. Why should she believe you this time?"

"Yeah, why should I?" I asked cautiously. I couldn't trust him anymore than I could trust Skye. I didn't know what to do.

"I'm the reason they didn't kidnap you sooner." Cory said, carefully walking towards me with his eyes locked on Skye. "If I stopped feeding them information about you, they would've taken you earlier. I protected you Mel. I protected you for as long as I could."

I sighed heavily. "That may be true, but you lied to me Cory. You lied to me everyday that I knew you. I thought you were normal."

Cory frowned. "Yeah, but you lied to me too Melody. It's the same thing."

That was true. Except for one tiny thing. "But you knew what I was. I had no clue what you were."

He smirked. "Yeah, but you didn't know that I knew. So, technically it was the same thing. All to protect ourselves."

I looked around the forest. Skye looked angry, Jewel looked lost, and Cory looked confident that I would let him stay. I had let Skye after all. What was I going to do? What did I want to do? What would my parents tell me?

_Listen to your heart Mel. It'll guide you. _Angel's words echoed loudly through my brain.

I put my hand to my forehead. I could feel a massive headache coming on fast. It was my decision. I was the leader. Everyone had to listen to what I said without any argument or complaints. No pressure though.

I sighed heavily. "Okay Cory. You can stay." I quickly looked up. Cory looked happy, Jewel still looked confused, and Skye looked pissed. Oh well. He'd just have to deal with it.

"I knew you'd let me Mel." Cory said smugly. I knew he was rubbing it in Skye's face.

"Hold up." I said before anyone could start gloating or complaining. "I don't trust you anymore than I trust Skye. I can't. You lied to me for almost nine years."

Cory nodded. "Understandable. I'm okay with that."

Skye glared at me, hard. "Why are you letting him stay?" Jewel nodded in agreement with him.

I sighed again. "Because I let you." I turned back to Cory. "Now, I'm leader. You have to listen to me. Whatever I say, you do."

Cory put his hand to his forehead and saluted me. "Aye aye Captain. Whatever you say, I do."

I had to try not to giggle when he did that. I had forgotten how funny he could be. "Right. First order of business." I said. "Bed. I'm on watch."

Skye opened his mouth to protest, but I put up my hand. "No. You and Cory aren't ever on watch duty. Just me and Jewel. I can't trust the two of you not to do something sinister while I'm sleeping."

Cory nodded and Skye just grunted in annoyance. He was seriously mad at me, but there was nothing to be done about that. It was his own fault in the first place. My trust was a hard thing to gain back once it was lost. He and Cory had both screwed up.

Jewel went back to her sleeping spot with no protest. I walked over to the log with my backpack and Cory frowned at me.

Skye, however, shook his head. "Of course. I knew you would blog about this." he said, irritated. "Just leave me out of it okay Princess." He stalked over to the place I had been sleeping and laid down.

Cory looked over at me, smirking. "Trouble in paradise, eh?" he asked happily.

I glared at him, pulling out the laptop. "Just shut up and go to sleep." I told him. "That's an order."

He smiled at me. "Whatever you say, I do." he told me, walking off. He grabbed himself a spot and laid down, turned on his side to where he could see me, and shut his eyes.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. Great. Now I had two people to keep tabs on. Two people I used to trust with my life. The computer warmed up and I began to type. That's what I needed to do. Venting my feelings would relax me. I hoped.

**That was certainly not the longest chapter ever. Not by my normal standards anyways. I tried though, I really did. So, what do you think about Mel letting Cory stay? Wise idea or not? I know you all really want Mel and Skye to get back together. However, this story isn't over just yet. Keep reading. Maybe they will. Updating soon. See ya. Oh, and check the blog. Link's on my profile.**


	52. Bad Romance

**Yes, I am back from my hiatus. It is a new semester and I am a little sad. No more creative writing class. Oh well. I still have fanfic. Okay, so down to business. Read 'NeoFlock' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. Excellent stories, excellent authors. So, I suppose that is all I have to say. Here's my new chapter. Finally.**

I carefully shut the laptop, which punctured the peace and quiet of the night. I'd been getting non-stop comments on my blog for an hour. They were all saying how glad they were to know that I was okay and that they were sure things would work out with me and Skye.

I wanted them to be right, but at the present moment, I didn't see even the faintest glimmer of hope for the two of us. As far as I could see, it was over and there was no changing that.

Frustrated, I got up to pace. I didn't know why, but whenever I was faced with a problem this always helped. Maybe it was the back and forth motion or maybe it was the simple act of doing something. I didn't know, but it worked anyway. So, that was what I did.

It would be so easy for things to go back to the way they once were. All I had to do was trust Skye again. And there was the problem. I couldn't trust him. It was in my nature. I had learned at an early age to be wary of who I trusted. Skye had broken my trust and even though I knew he didn't mean to hurt me, he still did. Besides, what was to stop Tanner from controlling him again?

I kicked a tree in disgust. What was wrong with me? Why did I attract bad luck like some sort of magnet? Why couldn't I have been born normal? What was the whole point of my life?

"Something wrong?" a voice whispered from very close behind me.

I whipped around to see Cory, who chuckled at my reaction, causing me to blush. Thank goodness it was dark outside.

"You all right Mel?" he asked me again, walking even closer to me.

I shrugged. "I'm as fine as a girl who's far away from home, has a boyfriend and a best friend that can't be trusted, and who's being chased by crazy lunatics can possibly be."

Cory scowled and made a grunting noise. "Why did you call _him_," he said, nodding in Skye's direction, "your boyfriend? I thought you said you two were finished."

I groaned, walking back over to the tree that I had been leaning against. I sank back down on the ground, hugging my knees. "We are." I told him. "I don't know why I said that."

Cory slowly and carefully walked over towards me. I never really noticed how graceful he was. Maybe if I had paid more attention I would have known what he really was.

He sighed, coming to a stop directly next to me. "I know how bad he hurt you Mel." He dropped down next to me. "I wanna help you get over him."

I suddenly felt very uncomfortable. Cory was way too close to me. I turned my head away and whispered, "I can deal."

He touched my hand lightly, making me gasp. "You don't think you want me, but you do." he whispered back. "Right now, you're still hung up on him."

I turned back to glare at him. "Okay, 'him' has a name. It's Skye." I didn't know why that made me so mad, but it did.

Cory pulled back a second, smirking. "Okay, okay. Sorry. I forgot it was still a touchy subject for you." He stared at me and, after a while, I turned my head again. "This is going to take longer to fix than I thought, but I'll do whatever it takes to have you."

I closed my eyes, tight. I wished he would just go away and leave me alone. Of course I was mad at Skye, but that didn't mean that I wanted to be with Cory now. I just wanted to be alone.

"Melody Isabelle Smith." he whispered, gathering my hair up in his hand and tossing it over my left shoulder. "You have no idea how long I've been wishing for this moment to come. Just me and you. Alone."

I shuddered. "We aren't alone." I said, reminding him that Jewel and Skye were sleeping just a few feet away.

He chuckled. "Well, we're basically alone." He took in a deep breath. "Look Mel, Skye had his chance. He blew it. Let me have mine." He brought his face close to my neck and placed a light kiss on it.

I almost let out a squeal and I scrambled away from him. He was going way too fast. I didn't even like him that way. He had been my best friend for years.

Cory sighed heavily. "Won't you at least look at me?" he asked pleadingly.

I considered for a moment and, slowly, turned to face him. He stared at me with hungry eyes, his tongue licking his dry lips.

"Mel, when we were kids, did you ever wonder what it would be like to be with me?" he asked, curiously. He continued to stare at me with that same expression on his face.

I took in a shaky breath. "Of course I did." I admitted quietly. "I thought you could be the one person who would love me even with my wings." Even as a five year old I thought that.

He walked closer to me, on his knees, and took my hands, looking deep into my eyes. "I thought about telling you the truth and then running away with you everyday since we met."

I suddenly felt very warm. I turned my head slightly, but Cory released my hands, gently grabbed my face, and turned it towards him.

"Cory," I began, my eyes darting over to Skye.

"You still love him, don't you?" he asked sadly. The look on his face was painful to see. He took his hand off my face, expecting me to turn from him.

I didn't though. For some reason, I couldn't. When I answered his question, I found myself nodding. "I may not be able to trust him, but there is no getting over him."

Cory stared at me for a minute and then said, "But what if you don't really love him?" He looked hopeful. "What if you just think you do? What if you're actually supposed to be with me?"

He was so persistent. He was determined to be with me. However, I wasn't too sure. "Cor, I-I don't… know." My voice shook. "Maybe."

"Come on Mel." he begged me. "You won't know unless you try. You have to give me a chance." He brought his face so close to mine, our noses were only half a centimeter from touching. "I love you and I won't hurt you like he did. Let me prove it." he whispered.

I swallowed hard. I was so afraid. Here was a guy I had thought I'd known for nine years. A guy that I thought I could love. A guy that I thought could love me back. Maybe he was right. Maybe I was supposed to be with him, not Skye.

Before I knew it, I had tilted my head and leaned in. Our mouths were touching. I shivered, but not from excitement. I felt really cold. There was nothing in this kiss. No lightning. Not like when I kissed Skye. However, I allowed Cory to continue.

Soon, he broke away from me. He stared into my eyes, confused. I knew why he looked that way.

"It wasn't what you expected was it?" I asked him knowingly.

"I-I thought that would be so different." he told me truthfully. "I thought that…"

"Everything would make sense?"

He nodded. "I really thought I loved you Melody. But that… that kiss was just… so… just… nothing. There was just nothing. No passion."

I smiled softly. "You do love me Cory. Just not in the way you thought." I placed my hand on top of his. "I tried to tell you."

He sighed and looked over to Skye. "But how can you love _him_?" he asked. "How can he be the one for you? You're beautiful, nice, kind, sweet, and a good person."

"Love just is… well, there's no explaining it." I told him, ignoring the 'him' comment. "People who you never would expect to even get along are perfect for each other. My mom and my dad. Max and Fang. Me and Skye."

He shook his head. "So, who's the right girl for me?" he asked. "I mean, if it's not you, then who?"

I shrugged. "There's no way for me to know that. You'll know the second that you look into her eyes." I smiled. "The feeling's mutual. She'll know you're right for her in that same moment."

Cory nodded and hugged me. "Thanks." he whispered before pulling back. "I guess I better get back to sleep. You probably want to be alone for a while." He stood up and walked back over to the place he had been sleeping in earlier.

It was quiet for a minute before Cory said, "Hey Mel?" I looked up and he continued. "Don't beat yourself up okay. You're a good kid. Don't try so hard to please everyone. Do what you think is right."

I nodded slowly. "Thanks for the advice." I told him. "Now get some shut eye. I don't know what we'll be doing tomorrow."

He stared at me for a minute, smiled, nodded, and rolled over on his side. I was now totally alone.

I sighed and began to think. It was almost Jewel's turn for watch. I wanted to know what the heck I was going to do before that. I was the leader after all. We needed some kind of plan. We couldn't just run forever. But, wasn't that plan before Skye got Eraserfied?

I decided to take inventory in the backpack. I'd go get supplies in the morning if we needed any. I'd have to take Skye or Cory with me though. Couldn't leave Jewel with both of them.

I grabbed the back and began opening pockets. No food, some clothes, a hair brush, a couple scrunchies, an empty water bottle, the laptop, a pocket knife, a lighter, and thirty dollars.

_Where are my bombs? _I wondered. They weren't in the bag and neither were the ingredients I used to make them. They were all gone.

"Mel?" I heard someone whisper.

I looked up to see Jewel looking at me. Her hair was a tangled up mess. She looked like she was about to fall asleep.

"What are you doing up?" I asked, hoping she didn't overhear my conversation with Cory.

"My turn for watch." she mumbled sleepily. She frowned when she noticed me looking through the backpack. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Uh, inventory." I explained. I decided I might as well ask. "Hey, Jewel. What happened to my bombs?" I asked. "And the supplies to make more?"

Jewel sat down next to me and yawned loudly. "Skye used them to get us out of there. See, Tanner had actually found the truck. He had taken everything inside it and then got rid of it." She yawned again. "Skye had the pack. He was supposed to be keeping it." She rubbed her eyes. "See, Skye decided not to tell you what actually happened. I don't know why though."

"And the bomb supplies?" I asked again. "What happened to those?"

Jewel was quiet for a moment. Then she yawned again and said, "Skye had to get rid of them to lighten the load. He wouldn't let me carry the pack while he was carrying you. We flew for hours. Non-stop. Skye didn't want anything to happen to you."

My breath caught in my throat. He had done all of that for me? Then why didn't he want to tell me?

"Mel?" Jewel asked again. "Go on to sleep. You need some rest okay."

I decided not to argue with her. I simply stood up, walked over to where she had been sleeping, laid down, and thought to myself.

Too much had happened in the last few hours. I was too overwhelmed. I needed to come up with some kind of plan of action, but I was too sleepy. Before I knew it, I had drifted off.

**Okay, so that's all for this chapter. A lot happened. Turns out Cory isn't in love with Mel like he thought. So, who is right for Cory? Maybe we'll find out, maybe we won't. Are things going to be okay with Mel and Skye? Guess you'll have to wait until next chapter. Updating as soon as I can. **


	53. Say It To Me

**Okay, here we go again. A new chapter just for all of you guys. This chapter is going to be excellent. I am positive that you all are absolutely going to love it. Anyway, read 'NeoFlock' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. If you like my story, you will love theirs'. So, now I better get on with this amazing chapter. Here we go.**

I woke up the next morning, knowing what I had to do. Angel had visited me in my dream and had a little chat with me. It took a while, but she finally came up with a plan that would make everyone happy. Or, at least, that was what Angel said. I, however, wasn't too sure it would work, but I promised to go ahead with it anyway.

I decided it was time to begin Angel's plan, so I figured I'd better get up. I rolled over and stretched a little before sitting up. I saw Jewel was in the same exact place I had left her last night.

"Morning, Jewel." I yawned sleepily. I quickly glanced up at the sky. The sun wasn't too high up, so it couldn't be any earlier than nine or later than eleven in the morning.

"Morning Mel." she smiled slightly. "You okay? You seemed a little sad last night when we talked."

I nodded untruthfully. "Yeah, I'm okay." I looked around to see Skye and Cory sleeping. Cory had his mouth open and Skye was cuddling his extra jacket, which he had been using as a pillow. I almost wanted to laugh. But only almost.

"Mel?" Jewel asked, breaking me out of my thoughts. Man, I really needed to stop zoning out all of the time.

I blinked several times and nodded. "Uh, I'm gonna wake the guys up. We've got some important stuff to do."

I walked over to Cory and tried to prod the Sleeping Prince awake. "Cor. Cor, wake up." I whispered quietly. He simply rolled over on his other side. "HEY CORY!" I shouted into his ear as loudly as I possibly could.

He jerked awake and bolted upright, looking around. "Whoa. What the heck? Where's the fire?" He saw me laughing at him and asked, "What in the world was that for, Mel, huh?"

"Get up." I told him simply, making my way over toward Skye. "We're doing some stuff today. Some very important stuff that you need to be conscious for."

I then knelt down next to Skye and shook him, hard. "Skye, get up." I ordered him, trying to sound as mean as possible. All part of the plan. Sometimes I wondered how Angel came up with some of that stuff. No normal person would think that this plan could actually work.

He opened his eyes and scowled at me. "What do you want, Princess?" he asked me angrily, sitting up.

"Yeah, Mel." Jewel interjected. "You said we had something to do today that was really important."

I looked around at everyone. Angel had told me to say as little as possible until I fixed everything. I slowly stood up and then nodded at Jewel. "You and Cory stay here." I then turned to Skye. "You, come with me. We're going on a supply run."

Skye dusted himself off and glared at me. "What? You actually want me to come with you, Princess? Are you sure I won't try to kill you or something?"

I let out a deep breath. "It's not like I have much of a choice. I can't leave Jewel here with you and Cory and I can't take Jewel with me and leave the two of you alone." I explained.

"Well, why can't I go with you instead?" Cory asked. I knew he was just trying to be a good friend and help me out. He knew how things were with Skye and me.

"Because Skye's more dangerous." I lied. "He's an Eraser. An unstable Eraser. I'm not leaving Jewel with him."

Skye glared at me even harder. "Whatever. Let's just go and get this over with." He got up and grabbed the backpack.

"Give me that." I told him sternly.

He rolled his eyes and threw it at me. "There, Princess. You happy now?"

"I would be if you stopped calling me that." I growled at him, throwing the backpack over my shoulder. I shook my head. "Let's just get going."

We took off, leaving Jewel and Cory behind. I knew she'd be okay. Cory wasn't the best fighter in the world. I would never in a million years tell him that though. It'd just make him feel bad.

Obviously, the flight was long and quiet. We were both too stubborn to say a single word, let alone look at each other. I knew I would eventually break down though. Angel had told me that it was important that I did. She said that, as a leader, I needed to learn to admit that I was wrong and to fix my mistakes. She told me that it wasn't a sign of weakness, but a sign of great strength, courage, and wisdom.

So, when we finally landed on a lonely stretch of road about half a mile away from a town, I did what I had to do. I smacked Skye upside the head.

"What the hell was that for?" he asked angrily. His eyes were glowing with his anger. "I don't care if you're fricken mad at me! That's no excuse to just hit me whenever you damn well please."

"Oh, stop whining." I told him, a little rudely. "I was trying to get your attention. I have something important to say."

He looked at me for a moment and his eyes softened a bit, though his expression was still hard as a rock. "Start talking then."

I tried my best to ignore his harsh tone though it was practically slicing me like a knife. I sighed heavily and said, "I just wish things could be the way they used to, but they can't."

"Yeah, you made that pretty clear last night." he grumbled. He stayed silent for a moment and then asked, "That all, Princess?"

I didn't know what to say, so I looked down at the ground as we continued to walk on. It was so difficult talking to him now. He was acting the way he did before we realized we liked- no, loved- each other. I used to be able to act like that towards him, but it was nearly impossible now.

Sighing, I began again. "Well, so what if things can't go back to exactly the way they used to. You obviously still love me." I held my breath. This was the true test. How he answered affected what I needed to do.

He folded his arms and said nothing. However, as I was about to give up, he took in a deep breath. "Of course I love you. Even if you don't love me anymore. I just can't stop."

That was all I needed to hear. Of course, I'd still have to keep my eye on him and I couldn't fully trust him, but that was okay. He still loved me and I still loved him. Things really could be semi-normal again. Angel was right. It was like a test to see if we could be together no matter what.

"Skye, you are the biggest idiot I have ever met in my entire life." I told him, smirking a bit. "I love you too. I was just hurt and confused. I've been doing some thinking. I realized that I need you."

He scowled. "Don't give me that crap. I know how you really feel, Mel."

At least he stopped calling me 'Princess'. "What the heck are you talking about, Skye?" I asked, lost.

He looked at his shoes and mumbled, "Look, I heard everything last night. I saw you kiss _him_." He growled the 'him' part.

I screwed up my face. "You saw that?" I asked, not really caring that he called Cory 'him'. No wonder he had been extra mean to me today. I had hurt him far worse than he had ever hurt me. I mean, he hadn't kissed anyone else.

When Skye didn't reply, I sighed heavily. "Look, Skye." I began softly. "I… I didn't mean for that to happen. It just did. He… I… We… There's…"

"Save it." he interjected. "You don't need to explain anything to me. I get it, Mel. I'm not that stupid."

No. No. No. No. No. This was wrong. All wrong. He wasn't supposed to have seen that. We were supposed to be mushily making up. No. No. No. No. No. This couldn't be happening.

And that's when I just finally snapped.

"There's nothing going on between me and Cory!" I shouted entirely too loudly.

Skye blinked a couple of times, obviously taken aback. I supposed a little explaining was in order.

"That kiss was nothing. That was Cory trying to talk me into forgetting you because he thought he had feelings for me. I admit that it could've worked. But I love you, not him. And Cory doesn't love me like he thought he did." I took in a shaky breath. "It was nothing. I swear." I noticed a pleading tone in my voice.

Skye stopped in the middle of the road and stared at me, dumbfounded. You know that look people get in horror movies when they've been turned into zombies? Well, that's exactly what Skye's face looked like.

"Skye?" I asked tentatively. There was no telling what this meant.

"Say it." he finally croaked.

"What?" I whispered. My breathing had deepened.

"Say it." he repeated. He grabbed me roughly by the shoulders. "Look me in the eyes and say it!" he yelled, scaring me. "Say that you love me. Tell me, Melody."

His eyes searched mine and I was at a loss for words. "I… I… I love you. More than anything in this world. I love you."

Skye then gently pressed my body to his and sat his chin on the top of my head. "Oh God." he whispered, holding me. We were still standing on the road, but it didn't seem to matter to either of us.

It was like that for a long time. Skye kept saying, "Oh God. I can't believe it." over and over again. It was almost like a dream. A very good dream, but a dream nonetheless. Suddenly, I wondered if I really was dreaming.

"Are we okay then?" I asked warily. It was way too good to be true. But it was all so real. I'd never had a dream so vivid. I could smell the dirt on him from where he slept on the ground. I could feel the muscles in his arms. This couldn't be a dream.

He pulled his chin off my head and raised my chin up. "Does this answer your question?" he asked, bringing his face towards mine.

We kissed and I instantly felt that fire I'd been missing. I knew we would be okay. I knew we could survive anything. And, somehow, I knew I didn't have to worry about trusting Skye or Cory. One less weight on my shoulders.

**Yay! They are back together! Did I do an excellent job or what? I hope that I can update really soon. To those of you who read my other stories, I am trying really hard to get those updated. See you soon.**


	54. Forgiveness Is Sweet

**Happy late Valentine's Day! Time for a special chapter. I meant to put this up yesterday, but due to unfortunate circumstances, I was unable to. (Stupid little sister.) I really hope that you all enjoy this. So, read 'NeoFlock' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. Well, like I said before, enjoy! Here's my new chapter.**

Skye and I were holding hands, walking through town. Where were we exactly? Don't know, don't care. We were way too busy looking at each other. It was like we were both afraid that if we looked away for one second, the person standing next to us would disappear.

"Uh… Mel?" Skye asked me, swinging our arms back and forth. Neither of us had said anything for a very long time.

"Uh huh." I said, acknowledging that I was listening to him. "What is it?" I saw a glint in his perfect, ocean blue eyes. Man, I had missed looking at those and actually seeing some life. They'd been far too cold for far too long.

He let go of my hand for a moment and dug into his pocket, pulling out twenty dollars. He smirked when he saw my expression. "I know you have money for the stuff we need, but I thought I could treat you to some ice cream."

"Where'd you get it?" I asked suspiciously. I didn't know what he had done as an Eraser. For all I knew, he could have gone out on a mission for the Director, killed a guy, and then taken all his money. Okay, so maybe I have a bit of an overactive imagination.

"Relax." he told me, still smirking. "Stole it from Cory this morning before we left. He didn't even notice. The idiot. I figured I might find a use for it."

I laughed, actually amused. He was absolutely right. Cory was an idiot. He should've known better. He should've been way more careful. And he thought Skye was really stupid. Hah!

"So, you wanna?" he asked me playfully, grinning bigger. I didn't realize just how much I missed that smile. The last time he smiled like that at me he had been an Eraser and he had stomped on my arm. I liked these circumstances much better.

"Duh yeah." I told him happily. I had picked that phrase up from Nudge. I rarely used it, but it tended to crop up from time to time. "I'm surprised you didn't ask me sooner."

He chuckled. "I was trying to figure out what to do with you." he explained to me. "I wanted it to be special, fun, and inexpensive. A way to say that I'm really sorry about what happened." I saw pain flash across his face. Oh no. Bad thoughts.

I clutched his hand again, trying to reassure him. I wasn't mad anymore. Far from it. I understood now. "No, Skye. I'm sorry. I should've realized that you weren't in your right mind." I should've listened to Angel. She had been right all along. Oh, did I know a certain bird girl that was going to be disgustingly smug the next time I fell asleep.

"Oh, who cares who should be sorry." he said, shaking his head. "The point is that we are back together and that we completely trust each other." He wrapped an arm around me and I almost let out a squeal.

I sighed contentedly. This morning, things looked depressing. I didn't think Angel's big plan would actually work. I should've never doubted her. She knew what she was talking about. She _always _knew what she was talking about.

We walked along blissfully. I swear, it was almost like we were in the middle of some sappy chick-flick with a ton of crying. Except the crying part was over. Now the audience was cooing over how cute we were together.

It wasn't long before we ran into a Dairy Queen. What better place to get some ice cream?

We waltzed right inside the air conditioned restaurant and waited in line for a good ten minutes.

We kept getting disapproving looks from some of the other customers. I supposed we were pretty dirty. I'd have to remember to get us all washed up soon. Maybe a car wash could work. That was something to think about. I could always use my power to take the water out of our clothes.

We finally got to the front of the line and decided to order two vanilla cones to go. I don't think either of us wanted to sit in a room full of people who would stare at us and judge us the whole time. We had private things to discuss. Things that could be overheard if we stayed inside.

"So…" I said when we were back outside, walking along. How did I put this without saying something wrong? "When you turned into an Eraser… um…what… what…" Oh, how should I say this?

"What was I thinking?" Skye asked me, licking his ice cream. "Is that what you're trying to ask me?"

I nodded sheepishly and took a lick of my own ice cream. I wanted to understand what had actually been going on. How had Tanner been able to make Skye hate me and Jewel so quickly? How had he been able to make Skye hate us at all?

Skye sighed heavily. "Old memories came to me. Bad things. Some from when I was a kid. More from when we first met. I heard horrible things you said to me repeated over and over again. I got angry. I lost control. I hurt you. And… I was happy about it. 'Hurt her like she hurt you,' someone told me inside my head. I think it was Tanner. I can't be too sure though. I don't exactly remember all of it."

I nervously took a bite of ice cream. Did Tanner have powers like Angel? Could he really control Skye like that again? What would happen if he did? Would I loose him forever next time? Would I live through next time?

"It was different at night." Skye said after a minute of silence. I noticed his ice cream was gone. "I thought of you a lot. I wondered why I could think of you then and be okay, but when someone even did something that reminded me of you in the day, I went ballistic. It still doesn't make any sense to me." He paused for a moment, thinking.

Finally, he said, " My bad feelings to you also weren't as strong if I'd been away from Tanner for a while. Weird, huh?"

"Hmmm." I said thoughtfully. "That is weird." I took the last bite of my cone and wiped my sticky hands on my pants.

Skye glanced at me expectantly. "You have a theory don't you?"

I nodded. He knew me and my expressions way too well. "I think he might be able to control people's minds. Like Angel."

"Then how come he couldn't make you join him?" Skye asked.

"That's what I can't figure out." I explained. "Why not just control me in the first place? Why even bother with you? Why not make me destroy you? He hates you, you know."

We went back to silence, both contemplating Tanner's motives. Maybe it wasn't supposed to make any sense. Maybe it was supposed to distract us from what he was really up to.

We stopped off at a gas station that was almost completely empty. I grabbed some food, batteries for our flashlight, a couple more lighters, and some water bottles. I walked over to the counter to pay for all of it.

As I did so, I noticed two things. The first was that Skye was secretly taking money from a teenager that looked like he was on crack. The second was a newspaper with a very interesting front page. I added it to the things I was buying.

I quickly paid the creepy guy at the counter and then walked over to the entrance, where Skye was waiting for me.

"You know they'll have you taking that kid's money on camera, right?" I asked as we walked out.

He shrugged. "They'll never find us. Doesn't matter."

He had a point there, so I didn't press the matter any further. Why argue with him when we just got back together?

We got back onto that lonely road and then stopped to pack the backpack and ditch the plastic bag.

When we finished, I slung the bag over my back. I never really noticed how heavy a few bottles of water, a laptop, and all the other junk in that bag were.

Skye seemed to notice this and reached out his arm. "Come on, Mel. Stop trying to be the big, tough 'I have to do everything by myself' leader. Let me take the pack. I'm stronger. You know that."

I sighed and reluctantly handed over the backpack. Skye was right. I needed to stop putting everything on myself. Not even Max had done that. "Thanks." I whispered.

He smirked, pleased with himself. "You're welcome… Princess."

I felt myself blush. "Man. I thought you'd quit that." I said, pretending to whine. I was really annoyed that he was still going to call me that, but I did not whine. I was above just a stupid, childish act.

He chuckled. "Uh uh. Nope, you don't win that easily. You'll always be a Princess to me. Always." Was that supposed to be a compliment or something? I sure picked a strange one.

However, I decided to just let it be and continue walking along the road until we got far enough away from that town in who-knows-where. Once that goal was accomplished, we took off.

Man, were Jewel and Cory going to be in for many surprises when they got back. Some good, some bad. All shocking.

**Okay, so that is finished with. I'm almost done with this fic, sadly. There isn't going to be too much more. The bulk will be filler junk that I'm writing to make the story longer and to drag it on for a while. Anyway, updating soon. I hope.**


	55. All Hail Tanner, King of the World

**Hey everyone. Sorry it's been a while. I had a case of writer's block. Oddly, the new Boys Like Girls album, Love Drunk, kinda helped me get over it. So, obviously, I highly recommend that you give it a listen. Contagious, Go, The First One, and Two Is Better Than One are the best. Okay, back to fanfiction. This chapter is at the School. It's rather… interesting. You probably expected it to happen, but you probably didn't expect it to happen quite like this. So, read 'NeoFlock' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. Great stories by great authors. Trust me. Okay, so here we go.**

The School was in mass chaos and the Director was oblivious to it. Of course, she knew something was going on, but she didn't know what. She was sitting in her office, literally in the dark.

"Idiots." she muttered to herself, spinning around in her chair. She could hear the whitecoats running around and screaming.

Couldn't they handle a couple of rebellious experiments? Of course not. Such a stupid question to ask. They proved with Melody, Skye, and Jewel that they were incapable of controlling mere children. Mere children with superpowers, but still children.

She continued to sit in the confines of her office while the madness ensued. Tanner could handle everything if those idiots couldn't. He knew how to keep people under control. Well, except for Melody and her friends. But she wouldn't have to worry about them. Cory had probably taken care of her and Jewel right now and was flying over with Skye as she sat there.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash right outside her door. She rolled her eyes and went back to staring at the wall. It was so hard to find decent help these days.

She began to think of her mother as she often did whenever things were off. She wondered if her mother ever quite as much trouble. She supposed that she did, but maybe she had been able to handle it better. She had definitely had more experience.

She thought back to the day that she found out what the Flock had done to her mother. She didn't cry. She couldn't. She was too worried. She was going to have to be Director. The whitecoats protested. A seventeen year old in charge? That was why the job had been so hard. None of them wanted to take orders from her. None of them respected her. And they all wrote her mother off as a crazy loon.

The noise outside got louder and louder and then… all was quiet. It was an eerie silence. Just what was going on?

The Director pressed the intercom button. "Tanner, report to the Director's office immediately." she ordered.

In no time at all there was a soft tap on the door. The Director pressed another button and the door swung open. Tanner walked in, his arms crossed, looking like nothing was wrong.

"You wanted to see me?" he asked, walking towards her. He didn't shut the door behind him.

She nodded. "I heard a commotion outside. What was going on out there?" she asked, calmly.

Tanner chuckled. "Oh, that. The experiments revolted. They… chased the whitecoats out of here with no effort whatsoever."

"And you did nothing?" she asked, standing up. She grabbed a handle on her top desk drawer. She was getting a bad feeling.

He grinned. "Oh, I did something alright." There was a crazy gleam in his eye. "I put them up to it."

She sucked in a deep breath. One of her own turned against her. It explained so much. It explained how Melody had managed to keep getting away. It explained how Skye went back to Melody's side. Tanner had helped.

"So, you've been helping her." she whispered in disbelief.

"If you mean Melody, then no." he said, smirking. "I have not been helping her. She's just extremely lucky."

"Then why did you rally the experiments?" she asked, confused. Now nothing made any sense.

"Well, I had to open their eyes." he said simply. "Why must they serve you when they are much, much stronger and smarter? To me, that makes no sense. The way I see it, the normal people should serve us… or be destroyed."

"I see." the Director said, calmly. So, Tanner had gone insane and was conspiring against humankind. She still had her hand on the drawer. If she could only open it. She had to keep him distracted somehow.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Tanner said, still smirking. "Your top drawer? Empty." He pulled her gun out of his pocket. "Always keep one step ahead of your enemy."

He had learned a little too well. So, ter Borcht had been right. She had been putting too much trust into Tanner. Big mistake.

"So, just what do you intend to do with that?" she asked, pointing at the gun. "Shoot me?"

He looked at the gun in his hand. "No. Not yet anyway. You might be useful for something." He shoved it back in his pocket. "I have something else in mind for you." He snapped his fingers. "Flint! Willow! Get in here!"

Tanner's two devoted cronies stepped through the doorway each armed and each wearing smug expressions, although Willow's seemed to be faltering. The Director now understood. They were Tanner's protection just in case she tried to do something. Smart. Very smart.

"Help me escort our prisoner to her… quarters." he laughed maniacally. He went around the desk, handcuffed the Director's arms behind her back, and shoved her forward. "Take her Willow." he said, letting her go. "I want to be alone."

Willow nodded and shoved her weapon into the Director's back. "Come on." she told her. "High time you see what it's like to be locked up in this place."

Flint helped her push the Director out of the room, leaving tanner absolutely alone to enjoy his success.

"Now I'm in charge." he said to himself, formally announcing what he knew for a long time was inevitable. "Now Melody won't stand a chance."

He knew that she would come. It was only a matter of time before she heard about the… accidents that he had caused. It was a trap for her. He knew she'd figure it out and come flying over to defeat him. But it wasn't going to work. He had an army. Mel wouldn't want to hurt innocent children. She'd have to give in. Unless she wanted to die. There was no other way.

He sat down in the Director's desk. No. His desk. His office. His School. Soon, his world. He'd be in charge of it all. No one could challenge him. No one would dare to stop him.

He propped his feet on the desk. "It feels good to be King."

**Shorter than usual. So, Tanner's big master plan has been initiated. What is Mel going to do? What 'accidents' did Tanner cause? And will the Flock get involved? So many questions and no answers. Guess you'll just have to stay tuned. Updating soon. I hope. Bye.**


	56. And So It Begins

**Hey everyone. I am back with a new chapter. Finally. It's been so long since I've had time to update this. Now, for those of you who have read my Harry Potter story, I am working hard to fix the second chapter. I hope to have it up very soon. We'll see though. Also, I have some new pictures up for characters from my all of my fics on my profile. Check those out and let me know what you think. Read 'NeoFlock' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. They are great stories. Okay, here is another chapter for you excellent people. Sorry it's taken this long.**

"What?!" Cory asked, looking up from the newspaper that I had tossed at him when Skye and I had come back from our date/shopping trip. "Are you kidding me? I can't believe this!"

"I know." I said, tossing Jewel a water bottle. "It's awful and I have a feeling it's only the beginning."

"Oh, no. Not that." he told me, handing the paper to Jewel so she could look at it. "I was talking about you and Skye getting back together. What's in the paper, I believe."

I rolled my eyes and Skye growled, "Oh, shut up."

"A fire and a missing girl?" Jewel asked, looking up from the paper. She look scared to death. I didn't blame her one single bit. It was awful. I had a feeling the Director was clueless. She took babies, not teenagers.

Skye took the paper from Jewel and scanned it. "'Caitlyn Sniadowski, age sixteen from San Antonio, Texas, was reported missing yesterday. According to her mother, she hadn't seen her since she left for school that morning.'"

"And the School's near San Antonio." I reminded them all. "If that doesn't sound like Tanner, then I don't know what does."

"But why take a teenager?" Jewel mused aloud. "I don't understand."

Cory sighed, taking a swig from his own water bottle. "I think I may know." Skye, Jewel, and I all turned our heads to face him. "I think I heard him ask if the 'E' virus would work on normal kids. He's probably trying to test it out."

That made sense. And, if it worked, Tanner could infect everyone in the entire world. I remembered when he had told me pieces of his plan. He wanted to make the regular people suffer. He wanted to take over everything. He wanted to get rid of the Director.

I shivered. "This is not good. Not good at all." I began pacing and worrying even more. I had to do something. But what? How could I stop this?

"Mel, you okay?" Skye asked me. He'd never seen me pace before. I'd only been worried enough to do it recently and he had been asleep when I'd done it.

"Of course she's not." Cory said, who knew what my pacing meant. "She's really freaked out and worried. Sheesh. Some boyfriend you are."

"Oh, you think I'm a bad boyfriend do you?" Skye asked incredulously. "I'll have you know that-"

"Stop fighting!" I interjected. I now knew how Jewel felt when Skye and I used to fight all the time. "Look, bad things are happening and we're going to have to work together to stop them."

"What was with the fire?" Jewel asked me, trying to relieve the tension. Skye and Cory were still staring daggers at each other.

"It was in California." I told her. "Where the first School was. It burned down before anyone even realized it was there. There had been a news helicopter flying over the area to get another story when they found the remains of the building. No one knew anything had been out there."

"You think he had it burned down to destroy evidence or something?" she asked me.

I shrugged. "I have no idea. Maybe. Or maybe he did it just to do it. It's hard telling why an insane person does what they do." And, boy, was Tanner insane.

Skye kicked a huge rock at the tree in front of him. "How could I be friends with that… that… scumbag? That… that… crazy, insane bastard."

Cory looked at him darkly. He was about to say something when I cut him off with a 'Say one word and I will gut you like a fish' look. I was not in the mood for snide, rude, unnecessary comments.

"You didn't know he would turn out that way." Jewel told him, trying to make him feel better. "People are different when they're kids."

Skye shook his head. "No. I remember him talking about how he hated normal people. I… never thought much of it."

"Yeah, well the School created a monster." I said, causing everyone to stare at me in disbelief. "Not saying that I'm sticking up for Tanner." I assured them. "It's just… if they never took him and grafted wings on him, or any of us for that matter, then maybe this wouldn't be happening."

"Mel's right." Jewel said glumly. "It's not entirely Tanner's fault. He's twisted and warped by hate."

"We've got to do something." Cory said, getting a gleam in his eyes. "Something bad could happen if we don't."

"And, how are we supposed to stop Tanner if we don't know what his plan is?" Skye asked. "And you think I'm stupid."

"I think I know." I offered, trying to prevent a fight. Everyone stared at me and, beginning to pace again, I told them everything Tanner had said to me and everything else that I suspected and feared.

"So, you're saying he's gotten rid of the Director and is planning on taking over the world?" Cory asked me, looking a little green.

I nodded. "Yeah. That sounds about right."

"And you think he's either going to threaten everyone with the 'E' virus so he can get what he wants or that he's just going to inject everyone with it anyway?" Skye asked me, also not looking too good.

I nodded again. "That's exactly what I think he'll do. I don't know how he'll do it though." However, I certainly knew he would find a way.

"What if you can't use it on normal humans?" Jewel asked, sounding frightened. "What then?"

I sighed. "Assuming that trying to turn the humans into Erasers doesn't kill them, then he'll just threaten them with it. They'll never know it doesn't work. They'll be forced to do what he says out of fear."

We sat in a stunned silence for the longest time. It's really shocking when you figure out the enemy's plans. You think, 'Oh, that makes sense', but you still wish that you're wrong. How could a person do that to other, innocent people?

Now, I know what you're thinking: Tanner's a seventeen year old kid. How can he possibly take over the world? Well, if I didn't have wings, I'd be thinking the same thing. But, we're super powered kids. We can make grown men cry for their mommies. Then there's the fact that Tanner can also turn into an Eraser. I know he's not bulletproof or anything, but with a threat that big, no one would dare to shoot him. He could actually win.

And, even if he didn't, normal people would know about us. Yeah, I know. I write a blog telling people. But that's only teenagers. Adults are harder to convince with a blog. Now, reports on the news from the President? Those they'll believe.

"Mel?" Jewel asked after a long while of quiet. I stopped pacing and looked at her. "What are we going to do?"

"Yeah." Cory said, looking at me expectantly. "What's the plan chief?"

I sighed, not entirely sure what the exact plan was. "First off, we're going to a car wash to get cleaned off. Second, we're checking into a hotel. Third, we're going to go to Texas and kick Tanner's butt." Somehow, I knew that was exactly what he wanted.

_I'm going to have to post a blog and raise the alarm. _I thought to myself. _Not to get anyone to help us, but so my parents know what I'm doing._

"A carwash?" Cory asked incredulously. "Why a carwash?"

Skye smirked at him. "Whatever she says, you do. Remember?" He then looked at me, that stupid smirk still on his face.

"Right." I said, nodding. "Let's move out."

**Okay, that was pretty good. I have no idea when I will be updating. Soon hopefully. Keep your fingers crossed. Catch you all later.**


	57. Love Is A Powerful Thing

**Okay, I have a brand spanking new chapter for you all. Sorry that it's been a while. I've been busy. I just got into that House of Night series. I really enjoy it. Too bad Damien is gay. Oh, well. A girl can dream. I've also been working on my Harry Potter fic. It's coming along slowly but surely. So, I'm going to get to my new chapter now. Enjoy!**

It had been a tiring day and, instead of sleeping, I was sitting in a chair by a window in a hotel on watch while everyone else was snoozing peacefully. I so wanted to crash, but no. I was the leader. I had to be the one to sacrifice sleep, no matter how much I needed it.

My tired, sleep deprived brain kept repeating the events of the day. The whole time we were flying, Cory had been complaining. ("Why a stupid carwash? What good is that? How does that help anything?")

When we finally landed near a deserted looking carwash, we went inside and got cleaned off. Then, I got to shock Cory with my amazing powers when I helped everyone dry off.

After that, we kinda just flew around until it started getting dark. Then we checked into a hotel. It took some persuading, but no one can really say no to Skye the pickpocket. When he waved all that cash in the manager's face, I thought the guy would wet himself from excitement.

Now, I was watching cars zoom along while trying to keep myself awake. My chair was so soft and the room was so warm. Cory and Jewel's snores were like a lullaby. Wait, shouldn't I be hearing Skye's snores too?

I turned my head around. Skye was sitting on the edge of his bed, watching me with a worried expression.

"What are you doing up?" I whispered to him, standing up and going to sit on the bed beside him. "Can't sleep?"

He sighed. "Not really." he admitted. "I tried, but I had a horrible nightmare." He looked scared, like a small child. "I... lost you." He took my hand. "I never want to lose you, Mel. I've already had to go through that. Next time... something worse might happen. You might..."

"Die." I whispered, suddenly feeling very cold. He nodded, solemnly. We both knew it was a possibility. It could happen to any one of us at any time.

"Skye, I can't promise you that it won't happen, but I want you to know that you won't lose me." I put my hand to his heart. "I'll always be here." Then I grasped his hand and placed it over my own heart. "And you'll always be here."

He softly smiled at me. "They're going to have a hard time destroying our love." he said. "If Tanner hurts you, he's going to have to deal with a very angry Eraser." He smirked at me. "And if he hurts me, he's going to have to deal with an enraged, smart, cunning, devious, kick-ass bird girl."

I chuckled. "Do you mean me, or Jewel?"

He smiled some more. "Both, I suppose." He turned his head to her sleeping form. "I never realized she was so brave and tough." He sounded like my dad whenever he was proud of me for an accomplishment.

"She gets it from you." I told him gently. "You've been there for her for years. You never deserted her."

"Yes I did." he whispered, turning back to me. "I hurt her. I don't know why she didn't scream at me like you did. I don't know why, after all that, she doesn't hate me."

I placed a gentle hand on his knee. "She probably did hate you for a while." I told him.

"Oh, thanks." He put his head in his hands.

I sighed heavily. "I wasn't finished, you knuckle head." I joked. "I figure that when you saved me, she realized that you were back to normal."

"Really?" he asked, looking up. "You think so?"

I smiled. "She knows how much you care about me. Even with everything that you did to us, she knew her best friend was still inside there somewhere. She knew that I was probably the only person that could snap you out of it."

He smiled, looking much better and happier. "Smart kid."

"Yeah, she is." I stared at him. "Hey, what exactly happened that night?" I asked him. "You know, the night I fell."

"I told you what happened, Mel." he said, sounding panicky. "Why do you need to hear it again?"

I shook my head. "No, you never told me everything. Jewel said that you were in charge of the backpack. You told me you guys got into the truck and grabbed it."

He sighed. "Jewel was right. As soon as you started falling, I jetted into the sky and caught you in my arms still in Eraser form. Tanner told me to give you to him so he could destroy you. I gently placed you on the ground and told him he wasn't laying a hand on you. We fought while the others just watched in shock. Then, somehow, I got you and Jewel out of there." He sighed again after he finished his story. "I thought it would be better not to tell you any of that."

"Why?" I asked. "Why didn't you want me to know?"

"I... I thought you didn't love me." he explained. "I didn't want you to feel like you owed me that much. I didn't want that to be the only reason we got back together. I wanted it to because you actually still loved me."

"I'll always love you." I told him. "No matter what you do to me. You're the one guy who loves me wings and all."

"What about Cory?" he asked me.

"He doesn't love me like that." I reminded him. "And, even if he did, you're the only guy I want to love."

He kissed my cheek. "Good. Because you're the only girl I want to love."

We sat together in silence for a little while. My mind drifted back to the beginning of our conversation. What was going to happen to us? What was I going to do about Tanner? What would happen if I couldn't stop him?

"Mel?" Skye asked me. "Didn't you hear me?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm sorry. I didn't. What were you saying?"

"I was asking you what we were going to do." he said. "Tanner probably has an army. Who knows what we're going up against?"

I sighed. "I don't know what we're going to do." I admitted. "Max and the others, they always had to do stuff like this. I don't understand how they did it." I groaned and put my head in my hands. I was in over my head.

Skye placed his hand on my back and patted me gently. "You'll figure out something, Princess. I know you will. You can do anything."

I slowly lifted myself up. I didn't know why I suddenly felt better, but I did. I jumped up and grabbed the backpack which was sitting on the floor in front of the window.

"What are you doing?" Skye asked curiously as I rummaged through the bag.

"Looking for the laptop." I found it and pulled it out. I walked back over to the bed and sat down. "I need to blog." I told him as I opened it and booted it up.

Skye shook his head. "I'll never understand how you think this helps anything." he told me, sounding exasperated.

"Trust me." I said as I logged on. "It'll help."

I began typing like a madwoman. By the time I was through, the sun was starting to rise and Skye looked like crap. I hadn't realized he'd been sitting up with me. He'd been so quiet that I had assumed he went back to sleep.

"Finished?" he asked me, yawning.

"With the blog? Yes." I told him. "However, we have a lot to do in a short amount of time. I have a plan. Sort of."

"I'm all ears." he said grinning.

I shook my head. "No. I don't wanna jinx it. No one is going to know what I have planned." I didn't even know what I had planned.

**I hope you all liked this chapter. I worked very hard on it. I am updated Mel's blog, so you might wanna check that out. Stay tuned for my next chapter. One will be coming shortly. Or, it should anyway.**


	58. The Cavalry Is Coming

**Okay, I am almost finished with this story. Now, don't cry. The key word is 'almost'. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve. This chapter probably won't be very long. You'll see why. Anyway, read 'NeoFlock' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. They are truly amazing. So, here comes my new chapter I hope you enjoy it. Oh, and thanks a ton for all of your reviews!**

Elisabeth had been sitting on the couch sipping a cup of green tea when she heard the computer beep. She hurriedly sat her drink down and scanned the new blog Melody had posted. She hoped things were well with her daughter.

However, the post wasn't bringing any good news. Melody and her friends were going off to fight evil all by themselves. Worse, they were fighting an army of children led by a teen with a serious disliking for normal humans.

"Iggy?" Elisabeth called into the kitchen. Her husband was just clearing away their breakfast dishes.

"Is something wrong?" he called back, noting the seriously worried tone in her voice. What was going on?

"Come in here." she said, not answering his question. She didn't want him upset. Not until she read him the blog. She might simply be overreacting.

Iggy quickly placed the last dish in the cabinet and said, "I'm coming." Something was definitely wrong. He walked as quickly and as carefully as he could into the living room.

Elisabeth turned her head when she heard him stop in the doorway. "Come sit on the couch with me." She needed him next to her.

Iggy quickly walked over to her and then sat down next to her. "Elisabeth, what's wrong?" he asked her. "I know something's wrong. Tell me what it is." It had to be something to do with Melody. Something had happened to her.

Elisabeth took a deep breath. She had to remain calm. For Iggy. "Melody posted on the blog." she told him. She was trying her hardest not to burst into tears.

"And?" he asked, pressing onward. He could hear her breathing had become deeper and slower. She was trying to keep herself from crying. He needed to know why. What had happened?

"Bad things are happening, she says." Elisabeth told her husband. "She and her friends have to save the world."

"No different than us." Iggy said. He knew there was more to it. If that was all, Elisabeth wouldn't be trying to keep herself from crying.

"Yes." his wife replied. "Except, she has to save it from children much like herself. Confused children who have been lied to and turned into Erasers."

Iggy drew in a sharp breath. So, now the Director was trying to use the children to achieve her means. This was not a good sign. "Anything else?" he asked.

"The Director isn't behind this." she told him. She was so worried for her daughter. If a mere child could overthrow the Director, what did it say for the most powerful leaders on Earth?

"Then who is?" Iggy asked her. Who could be worse than the Director? Was Max's worst fear true? Was Jeb behind it all?

"That boy, Tanner." she explained. "The one Angel told us about. The one she had a particularly bad feeling about? The one that she couldn't place?"

"What is he going to do?" he asked, not as convinced as Elisabeth that this news was so bad. Melody could take on a teenager. No problem.

"Take over the world. Turn all normal children into Erasers with something called the 'E' virus. Usual crap." She could tell Iggy wasn't too worried. Maybe she had overreacted. Mel would be fine. Still, she had a nagging feeling that she couldn't shake.

"Do you think we should help her?" Elisabeth asked. "It's summer. I don't have to work. Neither does half the flock. The other half can work from anywhere. You can get someone else to run the restaurant."

"You can feel where she is too, huh?" Iggy asked his wife. Ever since Mel had been taken, he had a funny feeling that he knew where she was.

Elisabeth nodded. "Yeah and I also think that she needs us."

Iggy sighed heavily. "I don't think I can fly that long of a distance any more." he told her. "And, besides, if a kid is behind this, we won't be much help." They couldn't hurt a kid, no matter how evil and twisted he was.

"We can drive most of the way there." Elisabeth said. She needed to be with her baby girl. If only to assure her everything was going to be okay.

Iggy heaved another sigh and dug into his pants pocket. He pulled out his cell phone and, much to Elisabeth's glee, began dialing.

"Hey, Max." he said after a few seconds of silence. "It's Ig. Mel needs us."

* * *

On the opposite side of the country, a girl named Liz Harmon was checking her email before heading off to the park to hang with some friends.

"Hmm." she said, looking at a particular email. "Mel posted a new blog."

So, she had no idea who Melody Smith was. She felt like she did. Mel claimed to have wings and was supposedly on the run with some friends from crazy lunatics who tried to harm her parents decades earlier. Most of the kids in her school thought it was all a hoax for a movie or something. Liz was drawn to stuff like this, so she believed it and so did a couple of her friends.

Liz clicked on the post and began reading. At first, it was filled with good news. By the end of it, Liz was worried and scared. If what Mel was saying was true, then life as she knew it was going to be over.

She yanked her cell phone out of the charger and frantically dialed her friend, Maddie. Maddie was one of the few who read the blogs and believed them.

"Hey, Liz." Maddie answered. "Where are you? You said you'd be here fifteen minutes ago."

"Something more important came up." She quickly read Melody's latest blog post to her friend. "We have to do something, Maddie."

"But what?" she asked. "Mel wants us to just sit tight and let her handle it. Besides, what could we do anyway? Those kids have wings and other mutant abilities. We've got nothing."

"We get the word out." Liz told her friend. "We protest. We do anything to make sure we get on the news. If all we do is let Mel know that us normal kids support her and aren't going down without a fight, that's good enough for me."

"You're right." Maddie said. She paused a moment and added, "Selene thinks so, too. We have to do something."

"Any camera crews at the park?" Liz asked. It was the first day of summer. News was slow. They might want to show kids playing on the local news for something or other.

"Yeah." Maddie said. "But you better hurry. They might not be here much longer."

"On my way." Liz hung up her phone and jetted out of her house as fast as possible. She had to help Mel. Somehow, someway.

**And, that was why it was so short. I hoped you liked that. Next chapter goes back to Mel and the others. Things are about to get interesting. Well, I will try to update soon. See ya! **


	59. News Flash People

**Hey everyone. I've been uber busy. Sorry. Anyway, just to let you know, I am a little upset over the severe lack of reviews I got on my last chapter. I understand that you were probably busy. However, I would enjoy more than two reviews on this chapter. Okay, read 'NeoFlock' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I worked hard.**

"Breakfast everyone!" I shouted into the hotel room. I had just come from downstairs in the lobby. I had a huge tray of breakfast food and Skye was behind me carrying another one.

"All right!" Cory shouted, running to the door and snatching the tray out of my hand. "I'm starved." he said, shoving a biscuit in his mouth.

Behind me, I heard Skye mutter something that sounded vaguely like, "Hope you choke on that stupid biscuit."

I closed the door, purposely stamping on his foot hard. He gasped, surprised and I whispered, "He's not the enemy. We can't be fighting amongst ourselves. You're just gonna have to deal."

He sighed heavily. "Okay, whatever. I'll behave like a good little boy." He took a banana off the tray in his hand. After handing said tray to me, he walked over to Jewel who was sitting on the bed staring intently at the TV screen.

"Hey, kiddo." he waved the banana in front of her face and she swatted at it with her hand. "Too much TV will rot your brain. Have some fruit." He tried to give it to her again, but she swatted it away.

"I don't want the dang banana!" she yelled at him. "I'm watching something important here!" She went back to staring at the TV.

Skye shook his head and turned towards the TV. For a while he stood perfectly still, his held tilted to the right. Then he said, "Mel? You may wanna take a look at this."

"Holy crap." I heard Cory say, his mouth still full of biscuit. Did I really have to teach a fifteen year old boy not to talk with his mouthful? A leader's work is never done.

I sat the tray of food down on the nearest dresser and headed over to the TV to see what all the fuss was about.

Jewel had it set on some random news channel. Before I could ask what was so important, I saw the homepage of my blog blown up on the screen.

"It's called Melody's Blog: Fly On 2." a female newscasters voice announced. "It's supposedly run by some fourteen year old girl named Melody Smith. She claims to be no ordinary girl. She claims to have wings and other special abilities such as self healing. She also says there are others like her."

It went back to the newsroom. A guy who was obviously wearing a hairpiece said, "Well, Claudia, this sounds a little too fantastic to me."

It went back to the woman. "Well, Jim, no one quite knows if these claims are true. It could be some stunt to promote a movie or perhaps a kid who just wants attention. It may even be some loon. We just don't know. However, the government has confirmed that Itex was shut down years ago and that they have never heard of this place that Melody calls the School."

"And how was this brought to the media's attention?" Jim asked Claudia.

"Three young girls. Their names are Elizabeth Harmon, Madeline Carrow, and Selene Duncan. They are subscribed to Melody's blog and go by lizziestar, Madeline Cullen, and Selene Darkmoon."

"And exactly what did they say that seems to have the whole world in an uproar?"

"Well, according to the latest post on the blog, which these young ladies brought to light for us, we are all in danger from a lunatic kid."

Jim chuckled. "A lunatic kid? Is he going to bomb a school or something?"

Claudia shook her head. "No, the accusations are much more serious. The boy who Melody calls Tanner has created something called the 'E' virus. It turns people into human lupine hybrids or Erasers as Melody calls them. She believes that Tanner wants to turn all of the normal people into-"

I changed the channel. I couldn't watch that. Unfortunately, I turned it to another news station. This one actually had one of the girls who believed me on camera.

"Yes ma'am, I do believe that Melody is real and the world's in trouble." a girl with long brown hair said. She looked about my age and the screen said her name was Elizabeth Harmon.

"Here's what other people are saying about these fantastic claims." a male newscaster announced. He had a bad toupee on too.

The screen flashed to a very angry looking woman. "I don't know who this 'Melody' girl is, but she needs to stop spoutin' off tales. Who does she think she is creatin' a scare like this? If I was her momma I'd severely punish her."

It flashed to an old man wearing a trucker hat. "It's them aliens. I'm tellin' ya."

It then quickly flashed to another woman. "What I think is that this girl is simply crying out for help."

I turned off the TV. I really couldn't stand to hear anymore. So, I was a loon? I needed a good spanking? And what the heck was with the aliens?

After several minutes of intense, deafening silence, Skye spoke up. "They said those girls went by lizziestar, Madeline Cullen, and Selene Darkmoon. Haven't they posted on your blog?"

"Yeah." I told him. "I'm really glad they believe me. And, maybe it's a good thing they said something. Maybe Tanner will know we're onto him." And how did that help?

Jewel quickly grabbed the banana that Skye had laid down on the bed and began peeling it. She didn't look up at me as she took small bites. She must've thought she had done something wrong. It wasn't her fault that I'd made my way onto the news. And, maybe it would turn out to be a good thing.

Cory sighed heavily. "Look, we have to go up against Tanner. It's now or never. It's do or die. If we don't, the whole world's at stake. No matter how scared we are, we know what we have to do."

We all looked at him, dumbfounded. I'd known Cory for a long time. He wasn't much of a speechmaker. However, what he was saying was true. We couldn't afford to sit around and do nothing.

"I hate to admit it, but Cory's right." Skye grunted. "The sooner we fight Tanner, the sooner the world's saved."

Everyone looked at me expectantly. They wanted to know what my big plan was. They wanted their fearless leader to... well, lead them to battle. I wasn't so sure of my plan if you could call it that. In fact, I was starting to rethink the whole thing.

"Okay. We'll head out tomorrow." I told them. "I think we all need one more day of rest. We need fuel and to recharge a little."

Skye nodded. "This time the three of us," He motioned to himself, Cory, and Jewel, "will take watch. You need sleep, Mel."

"Yeah." Cory agreed. "No offense, but you look like crap right now. You're in no condition to fight."

Jewel nodded vigorously. "And don't even try to get out of it, Mel. You can't deny that you need sleep."

They were right. I was completely worn out. There was no way I could get by on another night without sleep. I was about ready to pass out as I stood there. I'd lose a fight.

Just then, the hotel phone rang. I reached for it and answered, "Hello? Who is this?"

"Miss Smith?" the man on the other line asked. "This is Mr. Martin at the front desk. We sent a gentleman up to see you. He says he knows you. He says his name is Mike."

Mike? The MIT hacker dude? What the heck? "Oh, yes. I do know him. That's fine. Thank you. Goodbye." I hung up the phone. Why on earth would the front desk send a guy who wouldn't give them his full name to a room filled with a bunch of minors? And why was Mike here anyway?

"What was that all about?" Skye asked as I heard someone knock at the door. Great. Mike was here.

I headed off to the door and threw it open. Sure enough, Mike barged into the room with a laptop in his hands.

"Got the message." he said eagerly. "Now, I can't fight, but I can assist with anything technical."

"Whoa, whoa." I said. "Hold up a minute." I told him. "First, how did you find us. Second, what are you talking about. Third, what makes you think we want your help?"

"Uh, I tracked you here through traffic cameras. They're connected to satellites. I'm talking about your blog. You may need my help breaking through security systems. I feel I owe you from not helping you out before." He said all of that in one breath, reminding me of Nudge.

Everyone turned to face me, confusion on their faces. I wanted to scream. Instead I said, "Aren't those government satellites?"

"Your point?" Mike asked. "Look, do you want help or not?"

Well, one of the problems in my plan had been infiltrating the School. I supposed Mike could help us with that. It couldn't hurt. I mean, he tapped into government satellites.

"Deal." I told him. "What can I say? We're desperate."

"Excellent." he said, smiling. "I thought you'd agree."

**Finished! Thank goodness. Sorry again for taking so long to post this chapter. I will try to make my next update much sooner. I know this may not have been great, but I wanted Mike in there and of course Mel had to find out about her fans attempts to help her. Things get interesting. Catch you later.**


	60. Whispers From Fireflies

**Wow, I'm on time with an update for once. Well, this is shocking. In case you were wondering, this is a filler. Yes, I'm trying to drag out this story as long as possible. Not much more to do though. I do have a surprising twist in store for the end. No details just yet. I think I've babbled long enough. Read 'NeoFlock' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. So, here's my next chapter. Hope you enjoy.**

Fireflies. That was the first thing I noticed. I was surrounded by them. There were millions of them. Some even landed on my arms to rest for a moment before flying off again. They made the night bright, like a million tiny stars.

Whispers. That was the second thing I noticed. I couldn't make out what the whispers said or even who said them. I didn't even know they were coming from.

_Where's Angel? _I wondered to myself.

I found it odd that she wasn't around anywhere. Lately, she'd been in every one of my dreams. It was... curious that she wasn't in this one. Especially seeing as how bizarre it was. Fireflies and whispers coming from nowhere.

"You called?" Angel. I turned around, not surprised that she was once again in a simple pink dress with no shoes on. Her pure white wings glowed in the light produced by the fireflies.

"I didn't call." I said, curious. "Don't you usually just pop up whenever you please?" I asked. I thought that was how it worked.

She smiled. "I wasn't going to visit tonight." she explained, staring at the fireflies which were surrounding me. "I heard you calling for me."

Perhaps it was when I wondered where she was. Maybe simply thinking of her made her appear. It made sense in a crazy way.

"I suppose I did call." I concluded. I could hear that the whispers had gotten louder, but the words were still unclear.

"I think they are trying to tell you something." Angel said. She took note of my confused expression and, with a soft chuckle, said, "The fireflies are the ones whispering. Listen to what they say."

I frowned. "How? What they are saying sounds all jumbled up to me. I can't make out a single word."

"Concentrate. Make your mind focus. Then you will hear them."

I closed my eyes and did as Angel said. I took deep breaths. I felt more and more fireflies landing on my outstretched arms.

"_Skye." _one whispered. _"He is important. Keep him close. Do not go anywhere without him."_

Okay, Angel had once told me Skye would be my greatest alley. She had told me he would show me my strength. Naturally, I would want to keep him close in a fight. We did well together.

"_Cory." _another one chimed in. _"Much confusion. Loyalties will be tested. Keep an eye on him."_

What? Did that mean that Cory might turn on me? Or did that mean his loyalties would be tested? Would someone betray him or would he betray me? I didn't want to think about the latter.

"_Family." _I heard. _"Strength. Help. Power."_

Family? What did that mean? Were they coming? How would they help?

"_Jewel." _This whisper was louder. _"Hurt. In danger. Needs you."_

Jewel was going to get hurt? How seriously? Would I be able to help or would I be too far away?

"_Willow." _Uh oh. _"More confusion. She will either be your downfall or your saving grace. She has a choice."_

Okay, that one threw me more than anything. Willow might help me? Why? She hated me. What reason would she have for helping me? She had said she wanted to see me dead.

"_Flint." _Oh no. Another bad guy. _"Destruction. Pain. Anger."_

Eesh, that did not sound good at all. Did he feel these things or was he going to cause them?

"_Tanner." _This one was really faint. _"Ultimate challenge. Major duel. Unknown outcome."_

Yeah, that one was obvious. I knew it would come down to a duel between the two of us. That was the way it had to be. Good always fought evil. I was good and he was pure evil.

"_Melody." _Me? _"True bravery. Courage. Sacrifice. Leadership. Help. Loyalties tested. Shock."_

So, I was going to have some loyalty issues, too. Should have seen that one coming. The rest were just words. Were they things I had or things I needed? Help? Was they something I would give or receive. Both probably.

I felt the fireflies brush my arms as they took off into the air. I opened my eyes and Angel was smiling at me. Her eyes looked so old and wise despite her young face.

"What did they say?" she asked me.

I took a deep breath. "A bunch of stuff I already knew and a lot of things that I didn't."

"Did they help?" she asked me.

Honestly, I didn't feel like they had. I felt even more confused. What did all of that stuff mean anyway?

She smiled. "You will know what it all means in time, Melody." She sounded very tired and worn out. "I must go. I need to be inside my own head for a while." She chuckled.

I bolted up in my bed. It was pitch dark and I was sweating like crazy and breathing deeply. What a dream that had been.

"Mel?" a voice whispered from the corner. As soon as my eyes adjusted, I could make out Cory's faint outline sitting in the chair. "What are you doing up?"

Cory. Loyalties tested. "Uh... guess I had a bad dream or something." I muttered, sleepily. I really was tired.

He nodded. "Understandable when you consider what we have to go up against tomorrow." He sighed. "At least we have a small clue as to what we're doing. We could be flying in there blind." He looked at me, smiling nervously. "Uh... sorry. Forgot about your dad."

"Eh. Don't worry about it." I yawned loudly. "I think I'm gonna try and get some more shut eye." I told him, lying back down and rolling over. "Night."

"Night, Mel."

Would he really betray me? Was I simply being paranoid? It had been a dream after all. But, the last time Angel came at me with prophecies-- there was no better word for them-- they had come true.

Oh well. What would come would come. I'd just have to be prepared for when it did. I was so not looking forward to morning.

**Okay, end of that chapter. Ooh, wonder what's up next. Guess you'll just have to wait. Catch you later!**


	61. Explosive

**Hey everyone. I'm back with another update. Man, I can't believe that I'm almost finished with this story. It's kinda sad really. Oh well. All good things must come to an end. I think I said this in 'With Wings Wide Open'. Well, it's still true. Anyway, read 'NeoFlock' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. All right, let's get this show on the road.**

I was a bundle of nerves during the flight to the Texas School. (Mike was following below in his car.) That dream I'd had gave me a lot to think about. What was going to go down? What was going to happen?

My stomach was killing me. It always happened when I was nervous. I'd get that bubbling feeling that made me feel like I had to puke. Then I'd have trouble breathing. I hated it. It was annoying and inconvenient. But, I was just going to have to deal with it.

We were about a mile away from the School, when Skye glided up to me, his gorgeous wings brushing against mine.

"You okay?" he asked me quietly. His face looked calm, but I knew that inside he was feeling the same way I was.

I sighed heavily, not looking into his eyes. "Uh... yeah. I'm fine. Totally fine. No worries here." I gave a nervous laugh. Okay, so I was so worried. Real worried. I was also having trouble hiding my feelings which was not normal for me.

Skye rolled his eyes. "Okay, even if it wasn't obvious that something was wrong with you because of what you just said, I'd know you were lying." He nudged me. "So, what's up?"

I knew I should tell him the truth. Or, at least most of it. Maybe that would make me feel better. "I'm just scared." I admitted loud enough so that Skye could hear me and soft enough so that Jewel and Cory couldn't.

He reached for my hand. "I know. I'm scared too. What if everything goes wrong? What if I lose you?" he asked me, sadness darkening his features. "But, that's life. No one ever knows what's going to happen. A person could be getting the mail out of their mailbox and then get hit by a car. You just gotta take whatever life happens to throw at you."

I nodded, feeling a little better. Skye was right, as usual. I didn't know what I would ever do without him. Probably freak out and scream like the scared little girl I really was.

Soon, the School was in sight and we headed down towards Earth. The closer we got to the ground, the more I wanted to shoot back up into the sky and fly away. However, I knew I couldn't. I had to suck it up.

Once we touched down on the ground, I immediately took charge. "Okay." I said as Mike climbed out of his car. "We all know what we have to do. Stop Tanner at all costs." I took in a huge breath. "And now, I have something to tell you all." They needed to know that I had no idea what I was doing.

"What is it?" Jewel asked, tucking her hair behind her ears. She need another haircut soon.

"I have no clue what I'm doing." I admitted. "I have no plan."

Cory grinned. "Yeah, I figured as much. You tend to just barrel into things and see how it goes." he chuckled. "Something I've always admired about you because, mostly, it seems to work out for you."

Skye nodded in agreement. "Hate to admit it, but he's right. I mean, look at the stupid 'plan' you came up with to rescue me from Tanner. Didn't go at all the way you planned, but it somehow still worked."

"Done!" Mike yelled randomly. When we all looked at him weird he sighed and said, "I just disabled all of the locks and the alarms. You can go bust in there now."

"And what will you be doing?" I asked, hands on my hips.

"I'd like to help you further, but I can't do squat." he said. "But, if you need me, send me a signal and I'll get the FBI or something."

"What kind of a signal?" I asked, frowning. I could scream or something, but I didn't think he'd hear me.

Jewel's green eyes shone bright. "I know." she said, excitedly. "I'll levitate one of my feathers your way."

"Brilliant." Skye said, smiling proudly. He then turned to me. "So, you ready to go and kick some butt?"

I smiled and held out my fist. Cory, knowing what I was doing, stacked his fist on top of mine. Jewel and Skye quickly followed suit. This was a Flock ritual that I'd learned and had shown Cory when we were kids.

"Let's do this thing!" I shouted at my friends who cheered in response, making my heart swell up with happiness. I'd almost forgotten that Cory might betray me. Almost.

With that, we headed to the front door s an waltzed right in, like we owned the place. I felt fear deep in my soul, but I didn't act on it. I couldn't act on it. If I did, the world would be in terrible danger.

"It's totally deserted." Jewel whispered as we walked through the empty, dark halls. "What if they aren't here anymore?"

Somehow, I knew they were there. But, I answered Jewel's question anyway. "Then, we hunt them down and kick their butts."

"Now, Melody, why would you need to hunt us down?" I whipped around to see Tanner, Willow, and Flint lurking in the shadows. "We're right here. So, go ahead. Kick our butts."

"With pleasure." I snarled, lunging at him. I never actually laid a hand on him. He managed to knock me down and then grab me by my arms.

"You're weak." he whispered in my ear. He grabbed the back of my head and made me watch as Flint broke Jewel's leg. When I cringed at the sickening crunch, he laughed. "Now, what're you going to do about that Melody?"

I screamed and tried to twist out of his grip, but I couldn't. He had me exactly where he wanted me. Jewel was hurt and I couldn't do anything about it. It was just like the firefly in my dream had warned.

"Let go of her!" Skye screamed, running at us. He collided with Tanner, making him break his hold on me.

I fell to the ground, hitting my head pretty hard on the floor. Cory rushed to my side. "It's okay, Mel." he whispered. "Skye's not gotta let him hurt you."

"Oh, please." Willow scoffed, walking towards us. "You know that you hate him. He's taken the girl you love." she said, trying to get him worked up. "Why don't you let him get hurt? Why don't you let him get killed?"

Cory looked up into her eyes. For a minute, I thought he was going to scream at her or attack her or something. Instead, he whispered, "Because I don't love her that way and he makes her happy."

Willow stared down at the two of us for a moment. She was frozen, her mouth slightly open. She looked... sad and confused.

"Willow!" Tanner yelled from behind her. He had Skye pinned down on the ground. "Help our... friends up. We're going on a little trip."

Flint grunted and nodded down towards Jewel who was crying her eyes out on the ground, clutching her leg.

Tanner grinned evilly. "You can take her down to the dungeon. She won't be going anywhere with that broken leg."

"What makes you think that we'll come quietly?" Cory asked, glaring at Tanner. "Willow can't take both me and Mel while you've got Skye and Flint's got Jewel."

Tanner chuckled, pulling a gun out of his pocket and pressing it to Skye's head. Flint did the same to Jewel. "That's why." Tanner said, knowing he had us trapped. "Now, what do you say?"

I sighed, standing up. Cory slowly did the same. "Fine." I grumbled. "You win, Tanner. But, this isn't over."

He laughed again. "Oh, I know, Melody. This is just getting started." He jerked Skye up and still had the gun pressed to his head. "Follow me."

Flint headed in the opposite direction, literally dragging Jewel. Willow followed closely behind me and Cory with her own gun trained on our backs.

They led us outside into the training yard which was filled with experiments. Tanner pushed Skye into the crowd and then Willow did the same to me and Cory.

"This is Melody Smith and her friends, Cory and Skye." Tanner announced. "They want to save the regular humans. The same people who would lock you up and do tests on you if they knew you existed. Just like the whitecoats we chased out of here." He chuckled. "Give them a warm welcome." With that, he left, Willow trailing behind him.

All the experiments, bloody and bruised, circled around us. They looked ready to kill. Tanner had obviously brainwashed them. There were little kids, no older than seven, who looked ready to rip my throat out.

"What now?" Skye asked me, sounding a little scared.

We couldn't take all of them. I knew that. "We go down fighting." I said with a heavy heart. This was where it was all going to end.

Cory took in a deep breath as the circle of enraged experiments closed in on us. "It's been a pleasure fighting with you, Mel."

Suddenly, from high above, I heard a shout. "Hold on, Melody!" I looked up to see Gazzy and Angel flying towards us with several more black specks behind them. "The cavalry is coming!" With that, he threw something at us.

"Hit the dirt!" I yelled, knowing it was a bomb. A bomb that was probably ready to explode.

_Brilliant thinking, Gazzy. _I thought sarcastically as Skye, Cory, and I dove for the ground.

**Ooh. What's next? You'll find out soon. I probably won't be having that much homework this week, so I may be able to post a few more chapters this week. We'll see.**


	62. Some Unlikely Help

**Okay, so I am really trying to finish this story. It's not that I want to end it, it's just that I have other things I wanna write. Like, I might do a story about Skye and Melody's childhoods and then another one about Charlotte Mullins (Fang and Elisabeth's mom for those of you who forgot.). We just have to see. So, this is where things start to get very interesting. You'll see. **

I waited, face in the dirt, for a huge explosion, but none came. The only things that I heard were a bunch of murmuring and my own frantic heart beat. All of a sudden one of the experiments cried, "Dude! What's that stink?" That's when I smelled it.

"A stink bomb?" I asked, pulling myself up off the ground. Gazzy had already landed and was trying so hard to keep from laughing that tears were rolling down his face. He looked a little different from the last time I saw him. I noticed that he had facial hair.

"Of course, Mel." Angel chuckled as she helped Skye and Cory stand up. "We can't kill them. They are children after all." She looked the same as always, but there was a sadness in her blue eyes.

"Not to be rude or anything," Skye began, brushing dirt off his jacket. "but, if you can't kill them, then what kind of help are you going to be?"

"Moral support." said a voice from behind me. It almost made me burst into tears.

I whipped around and saw my dad standing there as tall as ever. My mother landed right behind him, every bit as beautiful as I remembered, and I ran towards them, pushing past the gagging experiments, not caring about anything except that I was with my parents again.

I tackled my father into a hug first. He let out a surprised breath, but hugged me back all the same. He smelled good, like home and love. He kissed the top of my head. "I missed you, Mel baby."

"We both did." Mom said, joining in on our little hug. We were a family again. I was so happy to see them. I almost forgot about the situation we were in. Almost.

"Okay, that's it!" one of the experiments yelled. "I'm tired of playin' games. Are we gonna do this or what?" The rest of them chimed in with agreeing comments.

I let go of my parents and walked over to the one who had made the comment. "Listen, I do not want to fight you." I told him. He was... huge for a bird kid. I mean, really. He sort of looked like Crabbe from Harry Potter.

"Yeah, right." he scoffed. "You expect me to believe that bullshit?" Then, he drew back his fist and punched me straight in the gut.

I fell to my knees and Skye ran towards the guy, barreling into him. They both fell on the ground and started wrestling. Skye managed to pin him down and then kept wailing him in the face. "Don't. Touch. Her. Again."

"Mel? Need help?" Cory asked, offering me a hand. I'd almost forgotten that he even existed. It was still so weird to see him with his wings out.

I grabbed his hand and he pulled me up with little effort. "Thanks." I said to him, truly thankful that he was on my side. For the moment anyway.

"Mel!" my mother yelled suddenly. "Watch out!"

I turned way too late. Some girl ran at me and knocked me in the side with a ton of force. I managed to stay on my feet and make a jab at her face. I missed, but managed to get a fist full of her hair and yank hard. She started scratching at me and I had to let go.

We were surrounded and, even though Max and Fang and Nudge finally showed up, the flock couldn't do anything to help us. The Gasman had a couple more stink bombs on him, but they didn't last too long.

I was down. I couldn't fight anymore. Experiments were closing in on me. My parents couldn't do anything except watch me die. Children, innocent children, were closing in for the kill. All so young. All so scared. All so confused. Just trying to have their own chance at life by taking mine.

I was hanging on to life by a thin thread, when all of a sudden something pulled me back in. It was a voice. A loud, familiar voice saying, "Everybody stop!"

And everyone did. I struggled to turn and see the face of the person who had just rescued me from certain death. It was Willow and she looked pissed. What had the fireflies told me? She'd have a choice to make.

"Why are you out here?" one of the experiments asked her. "We were doing just fine on our own." There were shouts of agreement.

"I'm here to ask you all a question." she began. She did not look all sad and depressed like she usually did. She looked... well, sort of like me. Confident. "Why are you trying to kill Melody?"

"Because Tanner said that she wanted to help the normal people." someone in the crowd said. "She wants to help the people that put us into cages, like the Director."

"That's not true." Willow said. "Melody hated the whitecoats just as much as any of us. She wants to help the good, innocent humans who have done nothing wrong to any of us."

"Tanner said they'd call us freaks and do terrible things to us. He said we have to rise against them. He said we were stronger than them. He said we shouldn't have to be told what to do."

The bird girl laughed. "And why should you listen to Tanner?" she asked them, walking up to me. She stuck out her hand and I warily took it. She pulled me onto my feet and then turned back to the crowd. "Has it occurred to you that you're all stronger than him? You shouldn't have to take orders from him either."

"But the normal humans-"

"Hey." I said, chiming in. "You're all mostly human. You have human emotions and human ideas and everything."

"So, what are you suggesting?" asked the experiment who had first attacked me.

"Stop fighting us." Skye said, walking over to us, followed by Cory. "Start helping us."

"Yeah." Cory told them. "Mel has to fight Tanner on her own. It's the way things have to be. But, you don't have to fight her."

"Why should we help you?" another experiment asked.

"Because we'll help you." Angel spoke up. "We may be able to get you all to go to a special school. One where you'll learn, have decent meals, and be treated kindly."

"You can really do all of that?"

"We can try." Max told them. "I know it's hard to trust us. Been there, done that. But we aren't the bad guys. That Tanner kid is. Think he won't treat you like crap?"

The experiments seemed to consider all of this. I hoped that they would listen to reason. I knew I couldn't try to fight them all again. I wasn't so sure that I had enough strength to go after Tanner.

"All right." said the guy who punched me in the stomach. I suppose they had elected him their speaker. "We're with you."

"Good." I said. Then, I turned to Willow. "Why are you helping us?" I asked her, curiously. "I thought you hated me."

She shook her head solemnly. "I'm helping you because I realized some things. Tanner is a jerk who only cares about himself."

Suddenly, I understood something. "You loved him, didn't you?" I asked her. "That's why you went over to the dark side."

She sighed. "No, I didn't love him. I thought I did, but I was wrong." I then saw her sneak a glance at Cory.

I smiled, knowing what had caused Willow to realize this. "Hey, you don't have to worry. He doesn't love me as anything more than a friend."

Willow turned a deep shade of red and stared down at the ground. "I have no idea who are you talking about."

I chuckled. "Okay, sure. If you say so. But, really. Cory and I are only best friends. He's like the brother I never had."

"You should probably go after Tanner." she told me, sneaking another glance at Cory. "I left him in the Director's old office."

I nodded. "Come on, Skye!" I yelled to my boyfriend. "We gotta go kick Tanner's butt." I knew the running was over. I had to end this.

Skye nodded. "I'm ready whenever you are." That was my guy. He was ready to face almost certain doom with me. When did I get so lucky?

"Be careful." my mom said to me, smiling sadly.

"We are so proud of you." Dad told me.

"You can do it!" Gazzy, Nudge, and Angel shouted in unison.

"Show him who's boss, Melody." Max said encouragingly. "You can totally take him down."

Of course, Uncle Fang was the last person to say something. "You are one tough girl, Mel. I am so glad you're my niece. Go and save the world."

I smiled, thankful that my family was there to support me. Just like the fireflies had said. I didn't even care how eerie it was. I was too happy.

Skye and I ran off towards the door back into the School. We ran down halls searching for the Director's office. I was determined to defeat Tanner for all of those experiments, for my family, for my friends, for myself, and for the world.

**So, Willow is a good guy now. And she likes Cory. Interesting. So, next chapter is going to be the epic battle. I know you'll love it. So, see you next week.**


	63. And So It Ends

**Hey guys. I'm back. My mom grounded me, so this chapter is a little late. Ridiculous. Anyway, this is where things start to get interesting. Epic battle with a shocking twist. Ooh. Oh, for those of you who read 'Solar Flare' I'd like you to vote in my poll on a title for the sequel. If you don't like those titles, let me know and come up with one. I'd love a few more suggestions. Summary will be posted as a note on 'Solar Flare'. Okay, so here's this new chapter. Hope you like it.**

All was quiet inside the School. The only sound to be heard was Skye's and my footsteps as we walked along, slowly. Did I find all of this creepy? Yes. Was my mind screaming that this was a trap? You bet. Did I want to turn and run and let someone else save the world? Hell yes.

I drew in a shaky breath. The moment of truth was about to arrive. Was I really a good fighter? Was I really a good leader? Could I really win this fight? Could I really save the world from this harebrained scheme that might actually work? We were about to find out.

"You got this, Mel." Skye whispered to me, his hand brushing my side. "We got this. It'll be all right."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." I whipped around, seeing Tanner and Flint. They seemed to have materialized out of the shadows. "She can't even seem to be able to find me, much less fight me."

I suddenly realized how dead tired I was. I did not feel like talking. I just wanted to get this fight over with. I wanted it to all be behind me. I wanted it to be a distant memory.

"Let's just end this, Tanner." I told him. "I want this whole thing over and done with."

Tanner pretended to look thoughtful. "Well, Melody, I thought... that we'd have a little chat first."

"No!" I yelled at him. "I am done talking. You don't have anything left to say to me. I know what you want and I refuse." I took in a deep breath. "You want to talk because you're scared. Well, I'm not scared. Just tired of dealing with all of this bullcrap."

Tanner chuckled like I'd just uttered a very funny joke. "Why do you want to quicken your demise?" he asked me. Beside him, Flint morphed. This wasn't going to be good.

"At least I fight my own battles." I said, glaring at Flint in his Eraser form.

Tanner simply shrugged at me. "Why should I get my hands dirty when Flint can kill you for me?" He snapped his fingers and Flint lunged at me. He had his hand wrapped around my throat and shoved me up against the wall. I was trapped. I was going to die.

"Wait!" Skye yelled at the top of his lungs. This caused Flint to slacken his hold on me enough to where I could breath.

"Yes, Skye?" Tanner asked. "You want something?"

"Leave Mel alone." Skye ordered. "Fight me instead." What? Was he serious? What in the heck was he up to? Had he completely lost his freaking marbles?

This made Tanner laugh again. "Why? Why do you want me to fight you instead?" Apparently I wasn't the only one who thought that Skye had jumped off the deep end.

"Because," he began. "I just realized it's not supposed to be her. It's supposed to be me." What in the heck was going on in that head of his?

"What?" I yelled at him. "Are you insane? This is not the time to be all noble and romantic and save me!"

"In case you haven't noticed, you're pinned against a wall, Mel!" he yelled back. "It has to be me. Angel told me so."

Holy fudge monkeys on fire! (Thank you, Nudge.) Angel told him so? "How?" I asked in disbelief. "How could she?" It couldn't be possible.

"She came into my dream last night." he explained. "Apparently, since I'm so deeply connected to you, she can come into my dreams too."

"Well, this is all very touching," Tanner said, interrupting our conversation. "but are we doing this or what, Skye?"

Skye nodded his head once. "Just you and me. No Eraser form. No weapons. Nothing." He took a step forward.

Tanner smirked. "This should be all too easy." He turned to Flint. "I want Melody to have a good seat for the show."

Flint let go of my neck, forced me forward a few steps, and pinned my arms behind my back. There was no way I was moving.

"Prepared to lose?" Tanner asked Skye.

Skye scowled. "No. I'm prepared to win."

Tanner chuckled again. "We'll see about that." Then, he lunged at Skye and the fight began.

Skye was able to keep Tanner at bay by creating small force fields whenever Tanner aimed a punch at him. Unfortunately, Skye hadn't managed to hit him anywhere.

"Typical Skye." Tanner jeered. "All you do is run. You can't even help your girlfriend stay alive." Oh, great. My fate rested on the outcome of this whole thing.

"Block him out, Skye!" I yelled at him. "Don't let him get to you! He's trying to psyche you out so you'll lose!"

"That's it!" Skye yelled, barreling straight into Tanner like a freaking football player. He knocked Tanner to the ground and started punching him in the face.

"I've. Had. Just. About. All. I. Can. Stand. Of. You." he said, punching Tanner harder and harder with every word. "You're the freaking weak coward!"

Suddenly, I heard a strange noise. People running. A whole lot of people who were running straight for us way faster than humanly possible.

"Found them!" I heard Cory shout. "They're over here!"

Flint let go of me and ran out of there as fast as he could. Skye was still beating the crap out of Tanner. I couldn't tell if he was unconscious yet or not. If he wasn't out of it, he sure wasn't putting up a fight.

"Skye, stop!" I shouted as people began crowding around us. "Skye, he's had enough." I slowly walked over to him, every step sending a dull wave of pain through my body. I placed a hand on his shoulder.

He stopped and turned to look at me, still pinning Tanner down. "Mel?" he asked, searching my face. "He... I..."

"I know." I whispered, crouching down next to him. "We'll take care of him, okay?" I looked down at Tanner's screwed up face. He was definitely out cold.

"That's right." Jeb stepped through the crowd and stood next to us. "We certainly will take care of him."

I didn't even need to ask why he was there. Mike or someone else had probably called him up. They always did.

"Is it really over?" Willow asked, her wide grey eyes staring at the scene. I noticed that her hand was clutching Cory's.

"Wait a second. Where's Flint?" Cory asked. Our eyes met for a second and he smiled softly, knowing why I was staring. I told him he'd find someone.

"He ran." I explained. "He heard your voices coming this way and he ran for it." I looked down at Tanner, scowling. "Hear that? He left you to save his own neck."

"So, what are we going to do with him?" Skye asked, looking about ready to kill Tanner. Not that I blamed him one bit.

"Send him to a special detention facility." Jeb said calmly. "Nothing too rash. We aren't heartless."

"What?" Skye asked incredulously. "After everything he's done... He was going to destroy the world. You're letting him off too easy."

I shook my head rapidly. "No, Skye. We're doing the worst thing possible." I explained. "If we were to kill him or something, we'd be just as bad as he is."

He looked at me and sighed heavily. "Fine." Then he looked away. "We gotta find Jewel. She's still locked up somewhere."

"I know where she is." Willow offered. "I can take you to her if you want. Or I could tell you where she is and you can go alone."

"Take us to her." I knew we needed to get Skye as far away from Tanner as was humanly possible. If we didn't, things could get messy.

I took his hand and helped him stand up. Several experiments walked over to Tanner and, after spitting on him, picked him up and dragged him off to who-knew-where.

"Come on." I told him. "Let's go get Jewel." I pulled him along as we followed Willow who was dragging Cory along behind her.

It wasn't long before we reached a flight of stairs going downward. I got that feeling of being led into a trap. However, I ignored it. If anything did happen, I had Skye. I'd be just fine.

We headed down the stairs into the deep dark room. Jewel was sitting at the bottom of the stairs. She heard us coming and turned her head. The poor girl's face was contorted with pain. However, a smile managed to shine through.

"Thank goodness." she cried, cringing. "I knew you'd come for me." Then, she caught sight of Willow. "What's she doing here?" she asked, glaring hard at her.

"She's on our side." I informed her. I turned to Skye. "We have to scoop her up and carry her to my dad."

"Can't you just fix her leg?" he asked me.

I shook my head. "Her leg needs to be broken again. Otherwise, it won't heal right. Unless you want her leg messed up, I can't fix her right now."

I grabbed one and of Jewel and Skye grabbed the other. We hoisted her up off the ground and began heading up the stairs. (Cory and Willow already walked back up to the top.)

Suddenly, I heard a moan from the corner of the room. I looked to see the Director chained up to the wall, looking like crap.

"We'll get Jeb to deal with her later." Skye said, noting my semi concerned face. "He'll know what to do."

I nodded. "Right." We continued our climb up the stairs.

The only thing I could think was that it was over. We'd finally won. I could be normal again. All of the experiments could be normal teenagers and children. They'd never have to worry about anything again.

_It's a new day. _I thought to myself. _We're all finally free._

**Another chapter is finished. One more and an epilogue. I am so proud of this story. It's come a long way.**


	64. Finally Somewhat Normal

**Hey guys. This is almost the end of 'In the Blink of an Eye'. I'm really kind of sad. Not sad enough to cry, but close. This is basically where a ton of things get wrapped up. What's the need for the epilogue that I'm going to write? Well, I have to let you know how everyone's doing, don't I? Okay, so here we are. Enjoy.**

We were all home now, safe and sound. Jeb had just finished explaining everything to us. It was all just really starting to sink in.

Jeb had known all along that Skye was the one who would face Tanner in the end, not me. He explained how he had seen in Skye the same mannerisms and strengths as Max. He knew that he was the one destined for greatness.

Flint was still being hunted down by some of Jeb's colleagues. They didn't see him as any threat really. He was, according to the other experiments, useless on his own. We didn't expect to ever see him again.

The Director had been arrested by the local police force for the kidnapping of Caitlyn Sniadowski. Apparently, she had managed to escape before she could be brought to the School and they had found her wandering in the wilderness. She'd actually managed to take pretty good care of herself out there.

Jeb had managed to keep everything that happened to us on the down low. No one knew anything except for us. My blog was off the news and no one seemed to care if it was all some stunt or not.

Preparations were being made to set up a special school for all of the experiments. Jeb knew some people who would be willing to teach them without exposing them. In the meantime, he was making arrangements to give them a place to stay.

Tanner had been locked up in the School which was still standing. (Gazzy and my dad had wanted to torch the place, but Jeb convinced them not to.) He would be guarded day and night until they could get him to a secure detention facility.

Now, all that was left to do was decide what was going to happen to me and my friends. We were all sitting in Aunt Val's living room, eating dinner made by Dad.

"Well?" I asked, looking at Jeb. "What's going to happen to Cory, Skye, Jewel, Willow, and me?"

Jeb smiled kindly at me. "I thought it would be obvious that you'd go back to living with your parents, Melody."

I shook my head, feeling irritated. "I meant am I moving or what?"

"Well, that would be up to your parents."

I looked to them. My mom and dad were sitting on the couch, holding hands and staring at me like they were seeing me for the first time. "Well?"

Dad grinned. "I suppose we can. I could sell the restaurant and use the money to buy a bigger one..." He mulled the idea over a little more. "I never liked that town much anyway." he admitted.

Mom nodded her head in agreement. "Personally, I think we all should move closer to each other. In another state perhaps."

"Colorado." Aunt Val answered automatically. "It was the flock's first home. It's the natural choice, don't you agree Max?"

Max, who had been in what seemed like a trance, jerked her head off the arm of the chair she was sitting on. "Huh?" she asked. "Oh. Uh... yeah. Colorado's good. Are you and Ella going to come with us?"

Aunt Val nodded her head. "I think that would be nice. I've been itching to have a change of scenery for some time now."

Ella nodded her head. "I'm in."

So, we were moving. The matter of what happened to my friends was still up for discussion. They had to come with us. They just had to.

"Jeezums, Mel." Angel said, suddenly. "Can you quiet your thoughts down a little bit? You're shouting in there."

That caused a chuckle from just about everyone in the room. Skye, the only one who had remained silent, gave my hand a little squeeze, letting me know he was there for me. Always.

I took a deep breath. "What happens to my friends, Jeb?" I asked again.

He frowned. "I don't know, Mel." he replied. "I've spoken with Dr. Reynolds and she's all for keeping Cory. She might be up for moving." He looked at all of us for a second and then sighed. "Let me go call." he said, heading out of the room.

We had all been a little surprised when we found out that the whitecoat masquerading as Cory's mother was actually a good friend of Jeb's. Even Cory had seemed a little surprise.

It wasn't too long before Jeb walked back into the living room with a smile on his face. "It's all a go for Cory moving to Colorado."

"I want to go where Cory goes." Willow spoke up from her spot on the floor next to her new boyfriend.

Dr. Martinez smiled happily. "I think I have room for one house guest." she offered. Then she frowned again. "But I only have room for one."

So, what were we going to do about Skye and Jewel? I couldn't be without them, especially not Skye. They were like my family. I needed them and they needed me.

There was complete silence for a few minutes before Max slowly stood up. "I suppose Fang and I can squeeze them in with us." She turned to him and he nodded in agreement. Then she turned back to all of us, a smirk on her face. "Besides, I could use some extra help... what with a baby to take care of."

Naturally, when Max said that, the whole house burst into complete and total chaos. There was talking and crying and congratulating and shouting and laughing and jumping and a whole lot of smiling. Nudge kept shrieking, "Are you serious?" over and over again.

Amidst all of the madness, I found Fang's eyes. They were bright and actually wet with tears. He seemed to be telling me, without words, that he hoped that his kid turned out as great as I had.

"All right, all right!" Aunt Val called over everyone. They all hushed in an instant and turned to look at her. "We have some serious work to do later. However, for now, I think it's time for bed. Everyone find a place and crash."

We all grabbed pillows and blankets and laid down in the living room and some of us even had to squeeze into the kitchen. Jeb declined the offer to stay, saying that he had his own work to do.

About an hour after we all laid down and most of us feel asleep, Skye nudged me with his foot. "Mel?" he asked me. "You asleep yet?"

I rolled over to look at him. "No. I almost was and then you just had to bother me." I gave a smile and trusted that he could see it in the dark. "So, what do you want?"

He frowned. "Well, I was wondering what we're going to do now" he told me quietly. "We move to Colorado and then what?"

I had to stifle the urge to chuckle. Instead, I said, "Well, we start going to school, maybe sign up for some extracurricular activities, maybe get a job, go flying on the weekends, and just try to be normal."

Skye sighed. "Normal. Wow. Weird."

I actually did laugh at that. "Night, Skye." I told him, reaching for his hand. I grasped it and then closed my eyes.

"Night, Mel." he whispered to me, kissing my cheek. "You may not have saved the entire world, but you did save mine. If it wasn't for you, I'd still be taking orders from Tanner."

A tear somehow slid down my face. "I love you." I told him.

"I love you too, Mel. Always." he muttered before falling asleep.

So, now I was normal. We were all normal. Skye was right. It was sort of weird being normal. No crisis. No wondering if I was going to eat. Nothing. The only worries I had were if Max's kid was going to be okay and if Dad would have enough pancakes to go around in the morning.

Skye rolled over and his wing brushed my shoulder. Okay, so we weren't really totally normal. And that was okay with me. Now that I had Skye (Someone who would love me with or without wings.), I wouldn't trade my wings or my strange life for the world.

**Okay, all that's left is an epilogue. So, Max is going to have a kid. Yes, the kid shall be in the epilogue. I hope you all have enjoyed reading this story half as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Updating soon.**


	65. Epilogue

**Okay guys. This is it. This is the end. This epilogue is set a few years after the story started. I hope you all love this. So, for the last time, I hope you all really enjoy this chapter. And now, you all may begin crying.**

Time has a habit of getting away from people. It passes by in the blink of an eye. It happens so quickly, you don't even realize. One minute, you're a little kid and the next you're almost an adult.

I remembered my fourteenth birthday and how I wished for an adventure, not really expecting to have one. Then I got kidnapped and thrown into all sorts of insane situations. I suppose you really do have to be careful what you wish for.

Then, everything changed. The whole family had moved to Paradox, Colorado. We'd all been enrolled in school and the adults got new jobs. Mom and the Gasman continued teaching, Nudge had opened up her own photography business with Max's help, Fang was still a journalist, Dad worked at a local diner and loved it, and Angel had started her first job as a teacher's aide.

On February 6 in the year I was going to turn fifteen, Griffin Anthony Mullins-Ride had been born and the Flock had gotten a new member. He looked exactly like Fang except that he had Max's light brown hair. Oddly though, he'd been born without wings. No one quite knew why.

Now, I was almost nineteen. I was almost finished with my second year of college. I planned on being a nurse. I loved helping people and I knew I could. Everyday, I drove myself, Skye, Cory, and Willow to the community college where we took our classes.

Skye was going to be a mechanic. Nudge had helped him discover his love for cars. The two of us were living together in our own place and were planning on getting married later on.

Cory, still my best friend in the whole world, wanted to go into songwriting. He actually wasn't half bad. He could really make a career out of it. He and Willow were still together and were considering getting married too.

Willow wanted to be a teacher. Angel had had a lot of influence on her. She and Cory were living together at Cory's mom's house. She was a lot happier than she'd been when I first met her.

Jewel was seventeen and getting ready to graduate high school. In July she'd be turning eighteen. She wanted to be a writer. She said someone needed to tell our story.

We'd all grown up so much and had lived pretty normal lives. We'd heard that the other experiments at the School were also adjusting to normalcy rather well. We'd all done well for ourselves.

"Mel, where are you?" a little voice asked me, bringing me out of my thoughts. I looked up, realizing I was sitting in Max and Fang's living room on their couch.

"Uh... in here, Griff." I said to my little cousin who was searching for me. His voice had sounded like it had been coming from the kitchen.

Griffin scurried into the living room upon hearing my voice. "C'mon." he said, grabbing my arm and tugging it. "It's cake time. We're waiting for you." It was his fourth birthday and we were all celebrating. I'd gone off looking for a pair of scissors and had gotten sidetracked.

"Griff! Did you find her?" I heard Skye call from the kitchen.

Griff dropped my arm and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Yeah!" he shouted. "She won't get up though! Help me, Skye! I want cake!"

I chuckled. "I'm coming! I'm coming! Hold your horses!" I got up and followed my cousin into the kitchen. He reminded me of a younger version of myself. He reminded Max, Fang, Dad, Mom, Nudge, Auntie Val, and Ella of the Gasman too.

Everyone was gathered around the large table. Some were standing and some were sitting. They were all smiling and laughing. Jewel was talking to Angel and Willow who was sitting on Cory's lap. Mom and Dad were sitting together talking to each other. Auntie Val, Ella, and Nudge were having a discussion that probably had something to do with my eventual wedding. Total was trying to climb on the table, but wasn't getting anywhere with his attempts. Max was getting into an argument with the Gasman, and Fang was talking to his son who was grinning away.

My eyes found Skye who was leaning against the wall. When he saw me looking, he smiled. I walked over to him and leaned against him. He wrapped his arms around me.

"What were you doing?" he whispered in my ear.

"Thinking." I told him, sighing. "I can't believe it's been almost five years since I got kidnapped. It's just... weird."

Skye kissed the top of my head. "I still haven't gotten used to being normal."

"That's because we really aren't." I reminded him.

He nodded his head toward Griffin. "Griff is. Well, actually he's the oddball of the family. But, he's more normal than the rest of us."

I heaved a heavy sigh. "He doesn't even seem upset that he doesn't have any wings. I think it has to do with Ella and Auntie Val. He knows he's like someone in the family, so he isn't bothered that he isn't like most of us."

"Hey!" Gazzy called to me and Skye. "Are you two gonna stand there yakking or are you gonna come over here so we can sing happy birthday to the kid?"

Skye and I laughed, walking closer to the table. We all began singing 'Happy Birthday' to Griffin who was keeping his eyes on the cake, grinning.

The second we stopped singing, we figured why he'd been watching his cake. The thing exploded, spraying everyone in the face with cake. Griffin, the only one not covered in cake, began laughing at all of us. Soon, Skye, Dad, Gazzy, and I joined in with him.

"That was brilliant." I told him, bending down for a high-five.

He took his finger to my cheek and wiped off some icing. "Really?" he asked. When I nodded, he smiled, licking the icing off his finger.

"I thought the expression was 'Like father, like son'." Fang said, wiping cake off his face with a napkin. "Not 'Like uncle, like nephew'." He glared at Dad, looking angry for a moment, and then cracked a smile.

"What can I say?" Dad asked, leaning back in his chair. "The kid looks up to me."

Griff laughed. "Uh uh." he said, shaking his head. "I got this idea from Mel."

"Oh no." Mom groaned. "You told him about the Gasman and the cake bomb, didn't you."

I shrugged sheepishly. "It's possible."

As punishment, Griffin and I had to clean up the kitchen by ourselves. We actually managed to have a lot of fun. He was definitely like me. He knew how to have fun.

When we were done, we went outside on the porch with everyone else. Dad and the Gasman were crouched on the ground. They had fireworks. It was going to be the perfect end to a perfect day.

"Now, this is how you do explosives." Max said, grinning slightly.

Gaz and Dad set them off. The sky was filled with light and color and smoke. Everyone oohed and awhed. They were so beautiful.

I guess to be normal, you don't actually have to be normal. Being normal, being human was all about loving others and having as much fun as you possibly can. So, we were just as normal as everyone else. We were just a little more special.

Life has a way of taking you by surprise. It's wild and weird and wonderful and oddly amazing. You're supposed to make the most of your time. Life can change in the blink of an eye. Trust me on that one.


End file.
